President Bush broadly outlined a plan to increase US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad during Tuesday's visit to Washington by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But little detail was provided.

Officials said it would involve shifting some US forces to the capital from other locations in the country. There were about 30,000 US troops in Baghdad prior to the new plan.

Assembling more troops and armor in Baghdad is aimed at calming violence that has only increased in the capital since mid-June, when al-Maliki launched a broad security crackdown.

The plan includes moving about four companies of military police, or about 400 soldiers, to Baghdad, along with the remainder of a reserve force that had been in Kuwait - equaling about another 400 troops.

Defense experts inside and outside the Pentagon have said that that diverting US troops to Baghdad could weaken their ability in other parts of the country. And they say the plan reverses an earlier effort to make Americans less visible and put Iraqi forces out front in the fight.

Others argued that Baghdad is the central problem at the moment and that Iraqis in the capital will feel safer with the heavier armored presence.

"There is definitely a fine line between overwhelming amounts of combat power versus enough to make you feel safe," said one of the military officials. "I don't think we're talking a tank on every street corner."

While about 3,500 members of the Stryker brigade were still in Iraq Thursday, about 200 had returned to Alaska and some 200 others were in Kuwait awaiting transportation home.

The Army said officials will determine on a case-by-case basis whether any of those in Alaska or Kuwait need to return to Iraq. It is likely the majority of those in Alaska will be able to stay there, but those who are determined to be essential personnel may have to return to the battlefront.

Rumsfeld has extended tours of duty before in the war, including several times last fall when U.S. forces were increased to deal with violence at the time of the Iraqi elections.

The units now scheduled to deploy to Iraq, according to Thursday's announcement, are the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division based at Fort Hood in Texas; the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division based at Fort Bliss in Texas; and Marine Regimental Combat Teams 2 and 6, both based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Also, the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart in Georgia has been told it should be prepared to deploy later this year.