Surge numbers based on successful Mosul campaign

"Bush and the military came at the plan from different perspectives. [Gen. George] Casey asked for two more brigades for Baghdad, plus a third that would be stationed in Kuwait as a reserve and two others that would be put on call back in the United States.
Bush decided that was not enough. His advisers studied the experience in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul under Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who successfully undercut the insurgency there, and they decided they could not risk having too few troops. Bush had already decided to replace Casey with Petraeus, and through intermediaries the president reached out to Petraeus, who was supportive of more troops than Casey requested.
So the president reversed Casey's plan, deciding that all five brigades would go to Baghdad in a phased deployment. "The president came out and said, 'Let's err on the side of making sure they have everything they need,' " said a senior official."

source
The Washington Post. Embattled, Bush Held To Plan to Salvage Iraq. January 21, 2007.

posted: tuesday, january 23, 2007, 3:17 PM ET

tags: iraq bush petraeus