IRAQ U.S. asks for foreign help to relieve American troops

Many countries are waiting for U.N. authorization to send troops to Iraq.
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The United States has asked Turkey, Pakistan and South Korea to send up to 40,000 troops total to Iraq as part of a global U.S. drive for help to secure the country still wracked by violence, officials from those nations told The Associated Press.
The recruiting by the Bush administration is aimed at relieving the burden of the 140,000 American troops spearheading the occupation force in a country where U.S.-led forces are coming under frequent attack.
Twenty-six other countries already are providing about 20,000 troops. Three of the countries the United States would like to see contribute -- Turkey, Pakistan and South Korea -- have not yet made a public commitment.
Others, such as Brazil, rejected U.S. approaches. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell have indicated that they don't expect a large influx of new international troops, saying contributions may not total more than 10,000.
Obstacles
Washington wants a U.N. resolution giving the world body's authorization to send troops to Iraq -- something many countries have said they want before they'll consider joining in. But there are other obstacles.
Some nations are reluctant to send troops because of political differences over Iraq with Washington, internal troubles or a lack of available forces.
India, for example, has armed forces of over 1.3 million, and had been expected to be a major contributor, but Defense Ministry officials say a surge in violence by Islamic militants in Kashmir means Indian troops will be tied down there. Indian officials declined to say how many troops Washington had sought.
Other nations -- from supporters of the Iraq war such as Australia and Spain to opponents like Canada and Germany -- have ruled out adding to the peacekeeping force.
In Moscow, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said sending Russian troops isn't yet on the agenda. But his failure to rule it out has prompted speculation Russia could participate, partly to ensure a stake in Iraq's oil interests.
A key factor in determining if contributions will come is the U.N. debate on the U.S. draft resolution seeking more money and troops. Critics like France and Germany want assurances that the United Nations would play a stronger role in post-war Iraq and that political power would be turned over quickly from the U.S. occupation administrators to Iraqis.
Muslim nations
Turkey is keen to improve relations with Washington and to ensure stability in its southern neighbor. Turkish officials say Ankara is considering a U.S. request for 10,000 to 20,000 troops.
"Lasting peace, calm and stability in Iraq is to Turkey's greatest advantage," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in a television interview last week. "If we send troops, the mission of our soldiers will be to serve this goal."
Another Muslim nation, Pakistan, is also debating a request from the United States and Britain for a division of 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers, officials in Islamabad said.
South Korea is studying a request that would be its biggest overseas deployment since the Vietnam war, during which it sent 320,000 troops to help the United States.
U.S. officials have cited the Polish-led division of 9,500 troops in south-central Iraq as an example for the size of a South Korean contribution, officials in Seoul said.
All three countries, however, face opposition at home to sending the troops. Any South Korean deployment would likely provoke a fight with anti-war activists, who launched violent protests in April when parliament agreed to send 675 military engineers and medics to Iraq.
Turks' opposition
In Turkey, a recent poll indicated most Turks oppose sending troops, just as they opposed the U.S.-led war that ousted Iraqi Saddam Hussein. Any deployment must be approved by parliament, which in March blocked plans for Turkey to host American troops intending to open a northern front in the war.
A large contingent of Turkish troops also could provoke unrest from Iraqi Kurds, given decades of fighting between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels over the border in southeastern Turkey.
New Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, has said Iraq's neighbors should not send troops. Other Iraqi officials have said Turkish forces must be deployed well away from the Kurdish territory in the north.