The Associated Press
Marine Gen. Peter Pace revealed that he and the chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force are developing their own assessment of the situation in Iraq, to be presented to President Bush in September. That will be separate from the highly anticipated report to Congress that month by Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander for Iraq.
The Joint Chiefs are considering a range of actions, including another troop buildup if Bush thinks his surge strategy needs a further boost, Pace said. He called it prudent planning to enable the services to be ready for Bush’s decision.
The military must “be prepared for whatever it’s going to look like two months from now,” Pace said.
“That way, if we need to plus up or come down” in numbers of troops in Iraq, the details will have been studied, he said.
Pace, on his first visit since U.S. commanders accelerated combat operations in mid-June, said another option under consideration is maintaining current troop levels beyond September.
There are now about 158,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, reflecting a boost of about 30,000 to carry out the new strategy Bush announced in January. The plan is focused on providing better security for Iraqis in Baghdad, but the intended effect — political reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites — has yet to be achieved, and many in Congress are clamoring to begin withdrawing troops soon.
Pace said in Iraq that the administration must consider not only what works best on the battlefield but also the growing stress of more than four years of war on troops and families.
He repeatedly mentioned his concern about soldiers and Marines doing multiple tours of duty and the decision in January to extend soldiers’ Iraq deployments by three months, to 15 months.
“That has impact on families,” he said after meeting with commanders and conferring by secure video teleconference with Bush.
Pace also conferred with Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, who said he did not currently foresee requesting more troops.
“Right now I can’t find an assessment where I would say I need more troops,” Odierno said, adding that he is confident that by September he will be able to give Petraeus his advice on how the troop buildup is working.
“My assessment right now is, I need more time” to understand how the offensive targeting al-Qaida in Iraq is working and how it could lead to political progress, Odierno said.
“I’m seeing some progress now here in Iraq. We have really just started what the Iraqis term ’liberating’ them from al-Qaida. .”