WASHINGTON, Jan 21: The death of 24 American soldiers in Iraq on Saturday has reignited the debate over whether America should send more troops to the war-torn Arab state.

President George W. Bush, who announced a plan earlier this month to send more than 21,500 additional US troops to Iraq, is expected to defend the decision in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

Saturday was the third deadliest single day for US troops since the war began in March 2003. That total included four soldiers and a Marine whose deaths were announced on Sunday.

Bush administration officials argue that additional troops are needed to give the Iraqi government breathing space to crack down on violent groups and heal political wounds.

Opponents consider it a risky proposition that could bolster anti-American sentiments across the Middle East, and cause more US casualties in Iraq.

President Bush’s plan to embed US soldiers with the Iraqi army would put them beside “untested and potentially corrupt” troops, said Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat.

Mr Schweitzer, giving his party’s weekly radio address, said: “Outsiders cannot resolve this conflict unless the Iraqi people want security and freedom at least as much as us.”

Bruce Riedel, a former official at the National Security Council and analyst at the liberal Brookings Institution told an American news agency that in his State of the Union address Mr Bush probably will try to link the war to the threat to America since the Sept 11 attacks because fighting terrorism has such widespread appeal.

“Fear is a commodity that the administration has sold before, and right now they’re not having much success with the public or Congress with the arguments they’ve trotted out on the (troop) surge,” said Mr Ridel.