Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Houston Chronicle
April 3, 2008 Basra operations don't indicate need for more American units, admiral says
By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's ability to reduce troop levels in Iraq will hinge on how well the Iraqis handle violent outbreaks like the recent operations in Basra, and how many U.S. troops are needed to assist them, the Pentagon's top military officer said Wednesday.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would not label the operation a win or defeat for the Iraqi troops. But he said it did not indicate a need for additional U.S. troops in Iraq and would not likely change the immediate recommendations Gen. David Petraeus will deliver to Congress next week.
Mullen said officials are still assessing the mixed results of the Basra operation, in which Iraqi-led forces battled Shiite militias. The fighting has fallen off, and violence had dipped to pre-clash levels.
The importance of the Basra combat in the ongoing U.S. military evaluations was underscored, however, by the fact that Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, delayed his travel to Washington for several days this week to assess the situation.
"It's very clear that if we had this kind of violence for a sustained period of time, those are the kinds of conditions on the ground that must go into (the) assessment of, 'Do I have enough troops to do this?' " Mullen said at a Pentagon news conference. "This was a particularly violent week ... And it is the kind of violence and lack of security that would certainly drive an assessment of what we would do after that."
Many of Petraeus' expected recommendations have been rolled out over the past two months, including plans for a pause in troop cuts after July when the last of the five additional brigades ordered to Iraq last year have come home.
It is expected that Petraeus will give Congress some estimate of how many U.S. troops he believes will be needed in Iraq through the end of the year, and how many more brigades could be withdrawn without sending in replacements.
There are 158,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, including 18 combat brigades, down from a peak of 20 brigades for much of the past year. By the end of July, military leaders have said the numbers would fall to 140,000 troops and 15 combat brigades.
While Petraeus won't lay out his proposals to Congress until next week, and Bush has yet to publicly endorse them, Mullen made it clear there is no question that troop cuts will cease after July, as commanders determine the effects of the lower troop levels on security in Iraq.
Mullen would not say how long the assessment period would last. Others have said it could be as much as two months.
April 3, 2008 Basra operations don't indicate need for more American units, admiral says
By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's ability to reduce troop levels in Iraq will hinge on how well the Iraqis handle violent outbreaks like the recent operations in Basra, and how many U.S. troops are needed to assist them, the Pentagon's top military officer said Wednesday.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would not label the operation a win or defeat for the Iraqi troops. But he said it did not indicate a need for additional U.S. troops in Iraq and would not likely change the immediate recommendations Gen. David Petraeus will deliver to Congress next week.
Mullen said officials are still assessing the mixed results of the Basra operation, in which Iraqi-led forces battled Shiite militias. The fighting has fallen off, and violence had dipped to pre-clash levels.
The importance of the Basra combat in the ongoing U.S. military evaluations was underscored, however, by the fact that Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, delayed his travel to Washington for several days this week to assess the situation.
"It's very clear that if we had this kind of violence for a sustained period of time, those are the kinds of conditions on the ground that must go into (the) assessment of, 'Do I have enough troops to do this?' " Mullen said at a Pentagon news conference. "This was a particularly violent week ... And it is the kind of violence and lack of security that would certainly drive an assessment of what we would do after that."
Many of Petraeus' expected recommendations have been rolled out over the past two months, including plans for a pause in troop cuts after July when the last of the five additional brigades ordered to Iraq last year have come home.
It is expected that Petraeus will give Congress some estimate of how many U.S. troops he believes will be needed in Iraq through the end of the year, and how many more brigades could be withdrawn without sending in replacements.
There are 158,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, including 18 combat brigades, down from a peak of 20 brigades for much of the past year. By the end of July, military leaders have said the numbers would fall to 140,000 troops and 15 combat brigades.
While Petraeus won't lay out his proposals to Congress until next week, and Bush has yet to publicly endorse them, Mullen made it clear there is no question that troop cuts will cease after July, as commanders determine the effects of the lower troop levels on security in Iraq.
Mullen would not say how long the assessment period would last. Others have said it could be as much as two months.