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Philadelphia Inquirer
March 27, 2008 Pentagon Leaders Voiced Concern Over How The Iraq War Has Stressed Forces But Agreed To The Delay, Officials Said.
By Robert Burns, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - In the confidential confines of a Pentagon conference room known as "the Tank," President Bush moved one step closer to temporarily halting U.S. troop cuts in Iraq.
No decisions were announced at yesterday's closed-door session, but officials later said the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps had indicated they would go along with a halt.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff, however, expressed their concerns about the accumulating strains caused by a war that has forced the Army and Marine Corps, in particular, to keep troops in combat longer and on more frequent tours than officials believe can be sustained in the long term.
The chiefs also said that 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 in a war that has entered its sixth year, compromising the Pentagon's ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.
Yesterday's 90-minute session was arranged by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to give 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," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
The discussion also covered 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 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 by the end of July to 15 brigades, with a total of about 140,000 combat and support troops. A key question facing Bush is whether security conditions will have improved enough by then to justify more cuts.
Gates has said he would like to see the total drop to 10 brigades by year's end, but that now looks unlikely.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has proposed a "pause" to assess the impact of having withdrawn five combat brigades since December. He has argued it would be reckless to shrink the U.S. force so rapidly that the gains achieved in the last year are compromised or lost entirely.
Bush is expected to endorse Petraeus' approach - probably in a public announcement as early as April 10.
If, as expected, Petraeus is given until August or September to weigh the effects of the current round of reductions, it is unlikely that the force would drop much below 15 brigades by the time Bush leaves office in January.
March 27, 2008 Pentagon Leaders Voiced Concern Over How The Iraq War Has Stressed Forces But Agreed To The Delay, Officials Said.
By Robert Burns, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - In the confidential confines of a Pentagon conference room known as "the Tank," President Bush moved one step closer to temporarily halting U.S. troop cuts in Iraq.
No decisions were announced at yesterday's closed-door session, but officials later said the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps had indicated they would go along with a halt.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff, however, expressed their concerns about the accumulating strains caused by a war that has forced the Army and Marine Corps, in particular, to keep troops in combat longer and on more frequent tours than officials believe can be sustained in the long term.
The chiefs also said that 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 in a war that has entered its sixth year, compromising the Pentagon's ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.
Yesterday's 90-minute session was arranged by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to give 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," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
The discussion also covered 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 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 by the end of July to 15 brigades, with a total of about 140,000 combat and support troops. A key question facing Bush is whether security conditions will have improved enough by then to justify more cuts.
Gates has said he would like to see the total drop to 10 brigades by year's end, but that now looks unlikely.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has proposed a "pause" to assess the impact of having withdrawn five combat brigades since December. He has argued it would be reckless to shrink the U.S. force so rapidly that the gains achieved in the last year are compromised or lost entirely.
Bush is expected to endorse Petraeus' approach - probably in a public announcement as early as April 10.
If, as expected, Petraeus is given until August or September to weigh the effects of the current round of reductions, it is unlikely that the force would drop much below 15 brigades by the time Bush leaves office in January.