Sen. Joseph Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said as many as 60,000 extra troops are needed to bolster the 170,000 coalition forces already there - and predicted they will stay a decade.
The Delaware Democrat, who recently returned from Iraq, said NATO allies France, Germany and Turkey should participate in the peacekeeping force.
"That's one way to communicate to the Iraqi people we are not there as occupiers. The international community is there as liberators," Biden told "Fox News Sunday."
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said U.S. troops ill-equipped to maintain order have grown "very tired" and suggested forces from India, Pakistan and Europe should step in to help set up a new Iraqi army.
'Straight talk'
McCain, an Armed Services Committee member, faulted the Bush administration for fueling a "growing sense of unease" in the American public.
"They need some straight talk about what the plan is, how long we're going to be there," McCain told CBS' "Face the Nation."
100 years, thousand years, million years...