By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON - Wear and tear on tanks in Iraq (news - web sites) is outpacing the Army's efforts to repair and resupply. The administration is scrambling to find thousands more troops by early next year. Stressed American soldiers are suddenly being given two-week vacations.
Five months into the American occupation of Iraq, there are growing signs that the Bush administration vastly underestimated what it would take to stabilize the country after Baghdad fell in early April.
Pentagon (news - web sites) planners had not expected that such a large U.S. force, now totaling 130,000 troops, would be required for such a long period — more than a year it now appears, rather than weeks.
They won't acknowledge the miscalculation publicly, but recent developments make them obvious:
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