How many soldiers are in a troop? When Bush talks about sending
250,000 troops to Iraq, is he actually sending 250,000 soldiers, or
250,000 groups of soldiers? Thank you ***GOD BLESS AMERICA***

Dear thenotoro, 

The term troop could mean only one soldier, or a group of soldiers. In
European armies, the word "troop" is an equivalent to the word
"platoon" in the United States, which is half a company (See more on
the term "platoon" in dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=platoon&r=67 ; and on the
term troop in the same site
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=troop).

In the specific case of the advancing action against Iraq, it seems
that the intention is to 250,000 soldiers, and not to 250,000 troops
(which would multiple these figures by at least tenfold). The
following sources support this claim:

The Turkish New Agency: "200 THOUSAND SOLDIERS TO IRAQ ... ...the
United States is determined to attack on Iraq. Pentagon is expected to
increase the number of its soldiers to 150 thousand by February 15
while this number is expected to reach 200 thousand in March. ...." 
(http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=8966)

Radio bilingual: "Veterans for Peace stages demonstration in New York
City against deployment of 200,000 soldiers to Iraq."
(www.radiobilingue.org/noticierotoday-prevnov2002.htm )

Ron Paul's weekly newsletter: "Placing 200,000 soldiers in Iraq- with
hundreds of thousands already deployed around the globe- will further
dilute our ability to defend our own shores."
http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2002/tst090902.htm

I hope this answers your question. In order to answer it, I looked up
the dictionary, as well as searched for the numbers of troops in Iraq.
Please contact me if you need any clarifications before you rate the
answer.