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Politics

Troops to stay at war longer

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 12, 2007

WASHINGTON - Stretched thin by four years of war, the Army is adding three months to the standard yearlong tour for all active-duty soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unpopular step aimed at maintaining the troop buildup in Baghdad.

The change, announced Wednesday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is the latest blow to an all-volunteer Army that has been given ever-shorter periods of rest and retraining at home between overseas deployments.

Rather than continue to shrink the at-home intervals to a point that might compromise soldiers' preparedness for combat, Gates chose to lengthen combat tours to buy time for units newly returned from battle.

"Our forces are stretched, there's no question about that," Gates said.

The extended tours are a price the Army must pay to sustain the troop buildup that President Bush ordered in January as part of his rejiggered strategy for stabilizing Baghdad and averting a U.S. defeat. Troop levels are being boosted from 15 brigades to 20 brigades, and in order to keep that up beyond summer the Army faced harsh choices: either send units to Iraq with less than 12 months at home, or extend tours.

Reaction on Capitol Hill to Gates' announcement was harsh.

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the longer tours will have a "chilling effect" on recruiting and the Army's ability to keep soldiers from quitting the service.

Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, one of only two Republicans who voted to set a timetable for beginning to withdraw troops from Iraq, said Gates' announcement was a "stark admission that the administration's policies in Iraq are doing permanent damage to our military."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who supports the troop buildup, said of the affected soldiers, "They'll be disappointed, but they'll do it."

Indeed, at Fort Hood, Texas, home of the 4th Infantry Division, some Army families took the news in stride.

Carol Frennier, whose husband, Command Sgt. Maj. Steve Frennier, is in Iraq, said she had prepared herself and her family for a longer deployment.

"They kind of told us to expect 12 months to 18 months," she said. "We were already prepared to have them extended." And her family has been through an extended tour of duty before.

"Last time they said nine months, and it was 14 months," Frennier said.

The longer tours do not apply to the National Guard or Reserve, nor to the Marines, who make up about 25,000 of the 145,000 troops in Iraq. The Marines are sticking to their standard seven-month tours, with an average of seven months at home between tours, although some units have had their tours lengthened recently.

Democrats, Bush fight over Iraq meeting

The White House and congressional Democrats were at loggerheads Wednesday as they sparred over when, where and under what conditions they would meet to discuss the war in Iraq. President Bush is expected to shun an offer by Senate Democrats to meet Friday on Capitol Hill, while Democrats are balking at the president's suggestion to brief Democrats next week at the White House because Bush has said there will be no negotiation.

"It can't be his way or no way," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

At stake is some $96-billion needed by the Pentagon to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of September. The Democrats have agreed to approve the money, but want Bush to agree to bring troops home sometime next year; Bush has refused negotiations on the matter, and congressional Republicans have promised to help sustain the president's inevitable veto.

[Last modified April 12, 2007, 01:38:45]