July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Halliburton Co.'s Kellogg Brown & Root subsidiary has been hired by the U.S. Army to feed and house as many as 100,000 troops in Iraq, where thousands of soldiers may be stationed for years to come, the New York Times reported today, citing Gen. Tommy Franks.

The contractor could set up large tents, but an Army spokesman told the Times that the $200 million contract placed last month could include semi-permanent wooden buildings.

Franks told a House panel yesterday that about 150,000 soldiers will be needed in Iraq ``for the foreseeable future'' and that a rotation policy is being formulated by the Pentagon, the Times said. Soldiers already sent by other countries to Iraq and those due to arrive total about 30,000, the newspaper said.

Taken together, the troop-rotation policy and housing contract are signs of the Pentagon's long-term commitment to Iraq and an acknowledgment that rebuilding the country will probably take years and large numbers of U.S. forces, the Times said, not citing anyone.

(New York Times online edition 7-11)

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Last Updated: July 11, 2003 04:57 EDT