Detainees numbers are up with increase in American troops

clipped from www.nytimes.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 — The number of detainees held by the American-led military forces in Iraq has swelled by 50 percent under the troop increase ordered by President Bush, with the inmate population growing to 24,500 today from 16,000 in February, according to American military officers in Iraq. Skip to next paragraph The Reach of War Go to Complete Coverage » The detainee increase comes, they said, because American forces are operating in areas where they had not been present for some time, and because more units are able to maintain a round-the-clock presence in some areas. They also said more Iraqis were cooperating with military forces.

The strategy of President Bush seems to be working with the addition of military troops to Iraq. More insurgents are being detained because of the ability of the military to have more troops on duty night and day.

The plan was for more detention officers and more detention centers to be built. Abu Ghraid prison is no longer being used by the American military.