Washington ? If violence in Iraq gets worse, U.S. military commanders will get the troops they need to deal with it, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday.

Commanders are studying ways they might increase troops in Iraq if violence should spread much more widely, defense officials said.

Among the options are:

• Troops already inside Iraq could be moved around.
• Troops eventually headed for Iraq, now training in nearby Kuwait, could be sent early.
• More troops could be sent from the United States — either reservists or active duty troops who have already served.

Officials said they also were talking to six more countries about the possibility of contributing forces. Such talks have continued throughout the campaign but have brought in only 24,000 international troops, compared with 135,000 Americans in Iraq.

Rumsfeld said commanders on the scene were constantly reviewing the situation and troop needs.

They are the ones whose advice we follow on these things,” Rumsfeld said. “They will decide what they need, and they will get what they need.”

The 135,000 total of U.S. troops in Iraq is “an unusually high level,” Rumsfeld said. American officials had expected the figure to go down to about 115,000 when a series of rotations of new troops into the country was complete