WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The Pentagon announced Monday that it is considering to temporarily increase its troop level in Iraq this fall, in order to secure the Arab country's October referendum on a new constitution and the December general election.

    Lawrence Di Rita, spokesman for US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, told media that "it is perfectly plausible to assume" that the US military will facilitate another short-term increase of its troops in Iraq as it did in January this year, though the final decision has not been made.

    However, He didn't reveal how many extra troops will be needed for the reinforcement.

    On the eve of Iraq's Jan. 30 parliamentary election, the Pentagon temporarily increased US troop levels in the country by about 20,000 to some 160,000.

    But when asked if the size of the US force this fall would reach that number again, Di Rita's response was: "it could be more or could be less."

    The spokesman said the option is open and the Pentagon could either send an additional unit to Iraq or simply delay the scheduled return of some of the existing troops while more troops flow into the country as planned.

    The reinforcement plan came at a time when US troops suffered huge losses in Iraq during recent days.

    Since July 30, at least 41 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq, including 18 on Aug. 3 alone.

    Local analysts pointed out that while the Pentagon envisions to pull some of its troops out of Iraq in the second half of next year once the situation there is stabilized, the increasing violence has made a short-term reinforcement more urgent. Enditem