The Hindu : International : Pentagon halts homecoming of troops

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 12, 2004

International

International

Pentagon halts homecoming of troops

By Suzanne Goldenberg

WASHINGTON, APRIL 11. One year after the U.S. tanks rolled into the heart of Baghdad, the Pentagon has been forced to step up its firepower dramatically, cancelling the demobilisation of some 25,000 soldiers who had been due to go home after completing their tour in the war zone.

``We're going to do whatever it takes to ensure that we're successful out here, and if that includes bringing in more troops, we will,'' the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General John Abizaid, told the Washington Post.

``We will do whatever is necessary to get the situation under control, to include bringing in additional forces (and) extending forces.'' He added: ``Everything is on the table.'' The Pentagon currently has 135,000 troops in Iraq. But as many as 25,000 of those were counting down the days to their departure, as the military completes its annual rotation, replacing war-weary soldiers with fresh troops.

Their demobilisation looked increasingly distant yesterday, as did the prospect for (the U.S.) President, George Bush's plans to scale down the number of forces by 25,000 before November's presidential election.

It also represents a u-turn for Donald Rumsfeld, Defence Secretary who clashed last year with the former army chief, Eric Shinseki, over the planning for the invasion. Gen. Shinseki had angered Mr. Rumsfeld by predicting that the Pentagon would need a force of 150,000 over several years in Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld's civilian aides insisted that the U.S. would be able to reduce its forces to 30,000 within a few months of the war.

But amid images from Iraq this week of bloodied American troops and warnings from Democratic leaders that Iraq was Mr. Bush's Vietnam, the Pentagon came under intense pressure to restore order.

By yesterday, conservative commentators were accusing Mr. Rumsfeld of underestimating the military needs for post-war Iraq.

Though the extra troops will reassure those concerned about the spreading chaos in Iraq, there were almost immediate signs of a backlash in the U.S. itself.

Military experts say the continuing deployments have placed an unacceptable burden on America's erstwhile ``weekend warriors'', the national guard and reservist units.

Raising the force levels for a prolonged period could deepen problems of low morale, they warn.—

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