WASHINGTON — Despite mounting criticism from Congress, the U.S.
military envisions a major long-term presence in Iraq.
Officials said the U.S. Army plans to maintain the current level of
troops through the end of the decade. They said without clear orders for
withdrawal the military required nearly 150,000 troops to ensure force
protection and maintain Iraqi security amid rising threats.
"This is not a prediction that things are going poorly or better," U.S.
Army chief of staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker said. "It's just that I have to
have enough ammo in the magazine that I can continue to shoot as long as
they want us to shoot."
[On Wednesday, the U.S. military sought to stop a series of explosions
caused by an insurgency mortar fired into an ammunition dump in Baghdad, Middle East Newsline reported. The
munitions store has been burning since Oct. 10 in an attack claimed by
Saddam Hussein loyalists.]
In an address to the Association of the U.S. Army, Schoomaker said the
army intends to maintain about 15 brigades through 2010. He said this marked
the current troop level of 141,000 soldiers, the highest number since
December 2005.
Officials said the army plans did not reflect long-term U.S. government
policy toward Iraq. They said the army must prepare units for deployment
whether in Iraq or in other hotspots.
"Gen. Schoomaker and the army does not set force levels in Iraq,"
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld later said. "They're not the ones who
determine how many will be there and until what year they'll be there."
Still, Schoomaker's remarks on Wednesday confirmed military plans to
retain current force levels in Iraq for at least the next six months. In
September, Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid said his command would
maintain more than 140,000 troops in Iraq through the spring of 2007.
For his part, Schoomaker said he has not received any assessment from
commanders on whether and when the U.S. military could reduce forces in
Iraq. Officials had expressed confidence that the Defense Department would
reduce the U.S. military presence to 100,000 by September 2006.
The army chief of staff said the National Guard and Reserves would be
asked to maintain the current level of deployment in Iraq. He said new units
would obtain training and equipment before their mission in Iraq.
Gen. George Casey, commander of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq,
acknowledged that the situation in the country has prevented a troop
drawdown. Casey said he rejected a proposal to withdraw several brigades
from Iraq in July 2006.
"I was on a track to off-ramping a couple of brigades," Casey told a
briefing on Wednesday. "But the situation on the ground didn't support that,
and we kept the forces there. We constantly look at what we need, and I ask
for what we need."
Casey, who said efforts to quell violence in Baghdad have not succeeded,
said the U.S. military would push for Iraq Army independence in 2007. He
said six Iraq Army divisions, 30 brigades and 90 battalions were leading
military operations. So far, the Baghdad government has maintained full
security responsibility in two provinces.
"I would expect to get to a total of six or seven Iraqi provinces under
provincial Iraqi control by the end of the year," Casey said.
