Washington ? The commander who is planning a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq has won Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s support for a ground force well in excess of 100,000 American troops, said senior defense officials and military analysts.

Some top civilian aides to Rumsfeld had argued that the Iraqi army could be defeated and Saddam Hussein ousted by a much smaller number of troops relying on speed, surprise, air power, psychological operations and help from Iraqi opposition groups.

But they said that Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of American forces in the Middle East, countered that Saddam’s forces could be much more formidable than the ragtag Taliban militia.