WASHINGTON - Coming off one of the deadliest months for American troops, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld indicated Tuesday that the number of U.S. forces in Iraq could rise temporarily as Iraqis prepare to vote in December parliamentary elections.
"We have had a pattern of increasing the number of coalition forces during periods when there was an expectation that the insurgents and terrorists would like to try to disrupt the political process," Rumsfeld told Pentagon reporters.
Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said they expect insurgents to expand their attacks as the elections approach, but would not say exactly how they plan to protect U.S. soldiers from the growing number of roadside bombs.
"We'll decide what we're going to do about December as we go along, but it would not be a surprise to me that the commanders would want to have some sort of an overlap" between arriving and departing units, Rumsfeld said.
U.S. troop levels rose to a peak of 161,000 before the Oct. 15 election on the new constitution, but dipped to 158,000 as of Tuesday. There were 159,000 U.S. troops in Iraq for the January elections.
Rumsfeld also defended the government's decision not to permit United Nations human rights investigators to meet with terror suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay. Three U.N. experts were given permission to visit the facilities in Cuba but said they won't go if they could not interview prisoners.
Rumsfeld said it was not appropriate to give U.N. investigators the same extensive access that has been granted to officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Rumsfeld and Pace talked at length about the deadly homemade bombs - called improvised explosive devices - that have become a growing threat in Iraq, including killing seven service members in three attacks Monday.
January and October were two of the deadliest months in Iraq, they said, because elections were held then, and the insurgents are trying to prevent the Iraqi people from participating in the political process.
Pace said U.S. forces are still finding an enormous amount of explosives in Iraq. The Pentagon and its commanders, he said, are working to find the best technologies and tactics to protect the troops, including better armor and improved battlefield operations.
He said that while the number of bomb attacks has risen, the number of casualties per effective attack is going down. As of Tuesday, the U.S. military death toll for October was at least 93, bringing the total number of military deaths to at least 2,026 since the war in Iraq began.
Rumsfeld said coalition commanders will soon recommend future troop rotations based on the security situation and political environment in Iraq. In September the Pentagon announced that about 9,400 active-duty soldiers scheduled to finish one-year tours in January will stay at least seven extra days, to avoid a transition to new units during the Iraqi election.
In other comments ...
SOCOM TO GET MARINES: In a historic step designed to bolster the military's ability to fight a global war on terrorism, Rumsfeld said Tuesday he approved adding Marines to U.S. Special Operations Command, which has its headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. SOCom is in charge of SEALs, Green Berets and other commando-style forces.
A Pentagon statement said the Marines would contribute 2,600 people to a new organization called Marine Special Operations Command, reporting directly to Special Operations Command. The Marine component will be commanded by Brig. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, who has been a senior officer at SOCom in Tampa.
No date has been set for the new command to begin operating. Its headquarters will be at Camp LeJeune, N.C.
It is the first time since the command was created in April 1987 that the Marine Corps has been included, and Rumsfeld said the change reflects a need for the Pentagon to continue to adapt to the tactics of an adversary like the al-Qaida terror network that uses unconventional means to counter American firepower.
The Marine Corps has resisted being integrated into the Special Operations Command because its leaders feared diluting their traditional sea-borne missions.
GUANTANAMO HUNGER STRIKE: Rumsfeld said he believes some Guantanamo detainees have been conducting hunger strikes to capture press attention. Currently, 27 detainees are participating in the hunger strike, including 24 who are being force fed and monitored by medical authorities.
Many of the nearly 500 prisoners at Guantanamo have been held more than 31/2 years without charge or access to lawyers. Most were captured in the Afghanistan war.
