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Gates and Petraeus Differ Over Troop Levels in Iraq •
Strains to Remain Despite Shorter Tours, Say Gates, Mullen •
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Powell: Troops in Iraq Must Be Reduced
The Associated Press
Thursday 10 April 2008
Washington - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that President
Bush's successor will have to come to grips with the reality that the United
States cannot continue to keep such large numbers of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Without taking sides in the race for the White House, Powell said, "Whichever
one of them becomes president on Jan. 1, 2009, they will face a military force
that cannot continue to sustain 140,000 people deployed in Iraq and the 20 (thousand)
odd or 25,000 people we have deployed in Afghanistan and our other deployments."
Powell's comments in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" seemed
to undercut Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain's position
that the U.S. should stay the course in Iraq. But Powell also said that the
next president will face limitations on bringing troops home, as Sens. Barack
Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton - rivals for the Democratic nomination -
have promised to do.
"They will have to continue to draw down at some pace," he said. "None of
them are going to have the flexibility of just saying we're out of here, turn
off the switch, turn off the lights, we're leaving. They will have a situation
before them."
Powell, who is a former chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, argued
publicly for the invasion of Iraq early in Bush's presidency. He said Thursday
that he considers each of the presidential candidates a friend.
"I'm looking at all three candidates ... I have not decided who I will vote
for yet," said Powell, who donated $2,300 to McCain's campaign last year.
Questioned about Powell's comments on ABC's "The View," McCain said, "One
of the great mistakes, of the many mistakes that was made for nearly four years,
is that we continued to reduce the size of the military." He noted that some
troops have been back time after time which has put stress on them and their
families, "but there's only one thing worse than an overstressed military and
that's a defeated military. And I saw a defeated military ... "
Powell praised Obama's response to controversial remarks by his former pastor,
the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who said the United States brought the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks on itself by supporting terrorism and that the government created the
AIDS virus to "destroy people of color."
"I thought that Senator Obama handled the issue well," said Powell, the nation's
first black secretary of state. "He didn't abandon the minister that brought
him closer to his faith, but at the same time he deplored the kinds of statements
that the Reverend Wright had made."
Go to Original
Gates and Petraeus Differ Over Troop Levels in Iraq
By Peter Spiegel and Julian E. Barnes
The Los Angeles Times
Friday 11 April 2008
Contradictory remarks about the possible
renewal of troop withdrawals reveal a Pentagon rift.
Washington - President Bush, accepting the recommendation of Army Gen.
David H. Petraeus to halt the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in July,
said Thursday that he would give the war commander "all the time he needs"
to decide on future troop cuts.
But in a surprising show of public concern about an open-ended U.S. commitment,
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a Senate hearing that he hoped to resume
troop reductions soon after a "brief" 45-day pause this summer.
Gates' comments, along with similar testimony from the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, were in stark contrast to those of Petraeus, who spent two
days this week on Capitol Hill telling lawmakers that it could be months before
conditions in Iraq permitted further troop withdrawals.
Differences within the Pentagon over the issue have been brewing for months,
but rarely have they been aired publicly. Democrats on the Senate Armed Services
Committee seized on the contrasts, prompting Gates to acknowledge that there
is a difference in the way he and Petraeus view troop levels.
"My view is that [Petraeus] should be in a position at the end of that
45-day period of evaluation and consolidation to make a determination whether
a next further drawdown could take place," Gates said. "One of the
benefits of being secretary of Defense, I suppose, is that I'm more allowed
to hope than the field commander is."
U.S. officials are in the process of withdrawing additional units sent last
year as part of the troop buildup. Once the last of those units leave, in July,
Petraeus will have at least 45 days before contemplating further troop cuts
under the recommendation approved by Bush. But Gates and Petraeus appear to
differ over how long commanders should take before deciding on further troop
withdrawals.
Petraeus has been pressing to keep force levels as high as possible, winning
a sympathetic ear from Bush.
In a televised address announcing that he had accepted Petraeus' recommendation,
Bush said he would cut the length of Army tours from 15 months to a year starting
with units deployed after Aug. 1. In the address, Bush also set a high bar for
troop withdrawals.
"The day will come when Iraq is a stable democracy that helps fight our
common enemies and promote our common interests in the Middle East," Bush
said, aiming his comments at U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq. "When that
day arrives, you'll come home with pride in your success and the gratitude of
your whole nation."
But members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have repeatedly expressed concern
that frequent deployments have strained U.S. ground forces and depleted resources
needed elsewhere, particularly in Afghanistan. Gates has been sympathetic to
them but has mostly mediated differences.
The Pentagon leadership is under new pressure to find additional troops to
send to Afghanistan to fulfill a commitment Bush made at a NATO summit last
month, a senior Defense official said.
But Pentagon planners will only be able to supply those troops if further cuts
in Iraq this year bring the size of the force there below 140,000 troops, or
15 brigades.
"It is everyone's desire to get below 15," said the Defense official,
who was not authorized to speak publicly on troop levels.
On Capitol Hill, Gates emphasized that all members of the military leadership,
including Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman, supported Petraeus'
recommendation that there be a 45-day suspension of troop cuts.
But Mullen, testifying with Gates, said that U.S. units could continue to train
Iraqi forces and prod the Iraqi government toward political reconciliation while
the number of troops was reduced.
"I see no reason why we cannot accomplish these goals while also keeping
open the option of an informed drawdown of forces throughout the remainder of
this year," Mullen said.
Mullen spoke with added urgency about Afghanistan, where 31,000 U.S. troops
are fighting. In Afghanistan, Mullen said, "we do what we can. But doing
what we can in Afghanistan is not doing all that we should."
The comments by Gates and Mullen set up a potential confrontation this fall,
just weeks before the U.S. presidential election. The Pentagon, worried about
having enough troops for Afghanistan, may insist on cuts in the Iraq force.
But such a stance would clash with Petraeus and other commanders, who want high
troop levels through October for Iraq's provincial elections.
Gates described the cessation of troop withdrawals in July as a "brief
pause." Both Petraeus and Bush avoided using those words.
"There is clearly a disagreement in rhetoric," said Sen. Carl Levin
(D-Mich.), the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. "Clearly, there
is a clash."
Despite the differences, there was also broad accord among the U.S. political
and military leadership during a day of public appearances. Bush, Gates, Mullen
and Petraeus all agreed that the 15-month troop buildup had reduced violence
and enabled the start of economic redevelopment and political reconciliation.
Bush argued that the buildup had changed the course of the war and revived
prospects for success. Those who have argued that further troop reductions would
put needed pressure on the Iraqi government to stand on its own are wrong, he
said.
"The Iraqis are a proud people," Bush said at the White House, standing
before military veterans and members of his Cabinet. "But they know that
they still need our help until they can stand by themselves."
Mullen, who serves as the president's chief military advisor, told senators
that future political progress depends on the willingness of Iraqi leaders to
make difficult decisions. "Our troops can open many doors, but they cannot
force Iraqi leaders through them," he said.
Democratic leaders denounced Bush's upbeat description, pointing to recent
violence and attacks on Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where U.S. operations
are based.
"The president still doesn't understand that America's limited resources
cannot support this endless war that he's gotten us involved in," said
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
In his address, Bush again warned Iran against training and funding militant
Shiite militias. "If Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect
our interests and our troops and our Iraqi partners," Bush said, without
specifying possible action.
U.S. officials have accused Iran of contributing to recent violence in Iraq
through its support of extremists. The violence has spilled into formerly peaceful
Baghdad neighborhoods, including the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, where militants
loyal to cleric Muqtada Sadr have battled U.S. and Iraqi forces for two weeks.
Fighting erupted there again Tuesday, with two U.S. airstrikes to destroy suspected
rocket locations. U.S. officials provided no casualty figures, but Iraqi police
said seven people were killed and 18 wounded in the strikes.
Separately, the U.S. military announced that an American soldier died earlier
this week when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in central Baghdad. The incident
raised American troop deaths to 20 in April. U.S. fatalities have jumped since
March 25, the start of an Iraqi-led offensive in Basra.
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Times staff writers James Gerstenzang in Washington and Ned Parker
and Saif Hameed in Baghdad contributed to this report.
Go to Original
Strains to Remain Despite Shorter Tours, Say Gates, Mullen
By Ann Scott Tyson and Josh White
The Washington Post
Friday 11 April 2008
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, made clear yesterday that President Bush's announced
reduction in the length of active-duty Army combat tours from 15 to 12 months,
while welcome, would neither end the risk the United States faces from a lack
of ready ground forces nor provide all the relief desired for overstretched
troops and their families.
Striking a tone distinct from that of Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top
U.S. commander in Iraq, Gates and Mullen also told lawmakers on Capitol Hill
that they do not see the halt in U.S. troop reductions from Iraq as indefinite.
Gates reiterated that he expects only a "brief pause" in the drawdown
before it continues this fall.
"I do not anticipate this period of review to be an extended one, and
I would emphasize that the hope, depending on conditions on the ground, is to
reduce our presence further this fall," Gates told the Senate Armed Services
Committee.
In testimony this week, Petraeus declined to use the words "brief"
or "pause" to describe the time needed to assess further troop reductions,
and said the process could last months. "There certainly is a difference
in the way we've described it," Gates said, referring to Petraeus, in response
to questions from Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), the committee chairman.
Mullen stressed that the evaluation time is "not a blank check; it's not
an open-ended commitment of troops," he said, adding that he seeks more-frequent
updates from Petraeus.
The departure of about 17,500 soldiers and 4,000 Marines by July will bring
the number of troops in Iraq to about 140,000. The troop level was 130,000 before
Bush's troop buildup last year.
At that level, Mullen said, there will still not be enough U.S. troops available
to meet two other pressing priorities: sending as many as three more combat
brigades to Afghanistan and increasing the time soldiers have at home to more
than a year, so they can both train for the full range of combat and have more
family time.
"The only relief valve that I see out there that would provide that would
be level of forces in Iraq," Mullen said. "We'd need to come down
a certain number of brigades before we could start to meet the . . . legitimate
force requirements that we have in Afghanistan that we just can't fill."
The Bush administration has pressed NATO allies to provide more troops for
Afghanistan. But Gates said that while allies will offer some additional forces,
he does not expect them to amount to the three brigades - 10,000 to 12,000
troops - that the NATO commander in Afghanistan says are needed.
Mullen said the United States will remain in a level of "particularly
high risk for the next two years" while the Army and Marine Corps work
to expand their active-duty ranks to 547,000 and 202,000, respectively.
Gates and Mullen said they are seeking to double the amount of time, to two
years, that active-duty soldiers will have at home. Troops are "looking
for some relief," Mullen said. "In addition to shorter deployments,
they'd like to stay home longer."
Soldiers had mixed reactions to Bush's announcement yesterday of a return to
the pre-"surge" 12-month deployments. The change will not take effect
until Aug. 1 and will not affect active-duty Army units now in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Spec. Seth Erickson, 28, of Dover, Ohio, said 12-month tours will make his
life easier. "It's a good move. It will help the soldiers and it will boost
morale," he said in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Fort
Drum, N.Y. Erickson deployed to Iraq with the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division,
in August 2006 on a 12-month tour that was extended to 15 months. "It was
a little frustrating," he said.
Other soldiers said the return to 12-month tours should not be viewed as a
"reduction" because the Army is just returning to its normal deployment
schedule for the wars.
"At 12 months, we were still stressed and stretched thin," said Spec.
William Maule, 24, of Jacksonville, Fla., who also deployed with the 2nd Brigade,
10th Mountain Division. "Fifteen months just made it worse. I don't think
returning to 12 months is going to fix the original problem."
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