Wow things must be going really well with this surge now:

The top US commander in Iraq has requested another Army brigade, on top of five already on the way, as part of the controversial “surge” of American troops designed to clamp down on sectarian violence and insurgent groups, senior Pentagon officials said today.

The appeal — not yet made public — by Gen. David Petraeus for a combat aviation unit would involve between 2,500 and 3,000 more soldiers and dozens of transport helicopters and powerful gunships, said the Pentagon sources. That would bring the planned expansion of US forces so far to close to 30,000 troops.

News of the additional deployment comes about a week after President Bush announced that about 4,700 support troops will join the initial 21,500 he ordered in January. They are in addition to the estimated 130,000 troops already in Iraq.

“This is the next shoe to drop,” said one senior Pentagon official closely involved in the war planning. “But you cannot put five combat brigades in there and not have more aviation guys, military police, and intelligence units.”

The last paragraph really makes me wonder. Is this “pentagon official” suggesting that Bush sent in the troops, but not the needed support? No – not our President. Yeah right. Sounds like Bush may have been playing politics when he announced the surge. 21,500 sounds like a good number, 30,000 might be a bad thing. Actually it is sounding more and more like the rumored number of 40,000 might become a reality.