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Army May Keep Forces in Iraq Through â06
The Armyâs top general said Wednesday he is making plans based on the possibility that the Army will be required to keep tens of thousands of soldiers in Iraq through 2006.I think we all knew that -- weâll probably have troops there in 2020. Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, told the House Armed Services Committee that "for planning purposes" he has ordered his staff to consider how the Army would replace the force that is now rotating into Iraq with another force of similar size in 2005 - and again in 2006. Stretched by commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea and the Balkans, the Army has used emergency authority to go beyond the limit set by Congress on the number of soldiers who can be in uniform, Schoomaker said. He said the Army now is about 11,000 soldiers above the 482,400 limit and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has authorized the service to temporarily exceed the limit by as much as 30,000. Schoomaker said he was opposed to Congress passing legislation to permanently expand the size of the Army, mainly because it would be too costly. "Iâm adamant that that is not the way to go," the Army chief said. Hate to disagree with a smart, good guy, but Iâd work on creating a couple of new brigades of light infantry and some more civil affairs units. And perhaps some additional combat support in the active duty forces. Even while the Iraq war continues, the Pentagon is planning a new offensive in the two-year-old Afghanistan campaign to try to stop remnants of the Taliban regime and the al-Qaida terrorist network. Orders have been issued to prepare equipment and supplies, though the operation will not necessarily require additional troops in the region, where about 11,000 Americans are still deployed, a defense official said on condition of anonymity. Northwest Frontier, here we come? Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he was concerned that the requirement for large numbers of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan may break the Army. "This does not mean we should pull back from our commitments," Skelton said. "We canât unring the bell. Weâre there. Weâve got to win. Weâve got to stabilize that country," he said of Iraq. "We cannot afford that to evolve into a civil war." Hereâs a smart Democrat. Why canât he run for president? Posted by: Steve White 2004-01-29 |
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