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Military Tells Bush of Troop Strains
The Associated Press
Thursday 27 March 2008
Washington - Behind the Pentagon's closed doors, U.S. military leaders told
President Bush Wednesday they are worried about the Iraq war's mounting strain
on troops and their families. But they indicated they'd go along with a brief
halt in pulling out troops this summer.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff did say senior commanders in Iraq should make more
frequent assessments of security conditions, an idea that appeared aimed at
increasing pressure for more rapid troop reductions.
The chiefs' concern is that U.S. forces are being worn thin, compromising the
Pentagon's ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.
In the war zone itself, two more American soldiers were killed Wednesday in
separate attacks in Baghdad, raising the U.S. death toll to at least 4,003,
according to an Associated Press count. Volleys of rockets also slammed into
Baghdad's Green Zone for the third day this week, and the U.S. Embassy said
three Americans were seriously wounded. At least eight Iraqis were killed elsewhere
in the capital by rounds that apparently fell short.
Wednesday's 90-minute Pentagon session, held in a secure conference room known
as "the Tank," was arranged by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to provide Bush
an additional set of military views as he prepares to decide how to proceed
in Iraq once his troop buildup, which began in 2007, runs its course by July.
"Armed with all that, the president must now decide the way ahead in Iraq,"
said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. The discussion covered not only
Iraq but Afghanistan, where violence has spiked, and broader military matters,
said Morrell, who briefed reporters without giving details of the discussion.
Some specifics were provided by defense officials, commenting on condition of
anonymity in order to speak more freely.
The Joint Chiefs are particularly concerned about Afghanistan and an increasingly
active Taliban insurgency.
The United States has about 31,000 troops in Afghanistan and 156,000 in Iraq.
U.S. forces in Iraq peaked at 20 brigades last year and are to be cut to 15
brigades, with a total of about 140,000 combat and support troops, by the end
of July. A key question facing Bush is whether security conditions will have
improved sufficiently by then to justify more reductions.
One of the leading advocates of Bush's troop buildup last year, military historian
Frederick Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute, said in an interview Wednesday
that security conditions in Iraq, while better, are not good enough to justify
any commitment to troop reductions beyond July.
"The military reality is that it's virtually inconceivable that it will make
sense to draw down below 15 brigades this year," Kagan said.
Gates has said he would like to see the total drop to 10 brigades by the end
of this year, but that now looks unlikely.
Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has proposed what is commonly
called a "pause" to assess the impact of having withdrawn five combat brigades
since December. He has argued that it would be reckless to shrink the American
force so rapidly that the gains achieved over the past year are compromised
or lost entirely.
Bush is expected to endorse Petraeus' approach. If, as expected, Petraeus is
given until August or September to weigh the effects of the current round of
reductions, then it is unlikely that the force would get much below 15 brigades
by the time Bush leaves office in January.
Bush is unlikely to announce his decision until after Petraeus and the top
U.S. diplomat in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, return to Washington next month to report
to Congress.
The Joint Chiefs, who do not command troops but are legally responsible for
ensuring the fitness of the forces they provide to commanders, have grown increasingly
concerned that the weight of five-plus years of war in Iraq could create severe,
long-term problems, particularly for the Army and Marine Corps.
In their session with Bush, the chiefs laid out their concerns about the health
of the U.S. force, several defense officials said. Bush was accompanied by his
chief of staff, Joshua Bolten; his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley,
and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"The conversations today with the Joint Chiefs were much broader than just
Iraq," Hadley said later. "It was a step-back look of what are the challenges
we face here in the next decade."
A senior administration official said the chiefs generally are in sync with
Petraeus on slowing the pace of troop reductions.
Morrell said Bush is "constantly asking the Joint Chiefs about the health
of the force, about retention rates, about family life, and so that was a large
part of the conversation today."
The session was led by Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
He presented the consensus view of the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and
Marine Corps on Iraq strategy.
Mullen and Gates have said repeatedly that in addition to reducing troop levels
in Iraq, they want to shorten tour lengths for soldiers from 15 months to 12
months as soon as possible. A decision to do that is expected, perhaps shortly
after Bush reaffirms that the number brigades in Iraq will be cut to 15 by July.
The Army calculates that at that point it could drop tours to 12 months and
still give units at least 12 months at home to recover, retrain and rearm before
deploying again.
Morrell said a decision on shortening tour lengths would be made by Gates in
consultation with Bush.
"We are not there yet," Morrell said.
Shortly after they Petraeus and Crocker reported to Congress last September
Bush announced the decision to reduce the number of combat brigades from 20
to 15.
At the time, Petraeus said additional cuts would be made but that he needed
to wait until this spring to recommend a timetable. Since September, violence
in Iraq has ebbed and U.S. and Iraqi casualties have declined markedly, although
violence has jumped in recent weeks.
The president is to give a speech Thursday in Ohio on the political and economic
situation in Iraq.
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Associated Press writer Jennifer Loven contributed to this report.
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