The Pentagon will extend the tour of duty of about 20,000 U.S. troops, requiring them to spend up to three more months in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced Thursday.
"We regret having to extend those individuals," Rumsfeld told reporters. "But the country is at war and we need to do what is necessary to succeed."
Approximately 14,500 soldiers of the 1st Armored Division, which is based in Germany, plus about 3,200 support troops and about 2,800 soldiers of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Polk, La., have been told that they will remain in Iraq for another three months instead of coming home this month, defense officials told The Associated Press before Rumsfeld made his announcement.
"What they're doing is important, it's noble work and in the end it will be successful," Rumsfeld told reporters.
The normal U.S. military force in Iraq is around 115,000 but because of troop rotations, around 137,000 U.S. military personnel are in the country, Rumsfeld said. What Gen. John Abizaid, the overall commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, requested was the chance to keep the force level at the higher number for a few months.
[We simply have to hold the line until that June 30th handover.--Jen]
"We have been and are using emergency powers that were granted by Congress to increase the overall numbers," Rumsfeld said.
Marine Corps. Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said keeping some troops in Iraq longer would not damage U.S. abilities elsewhere.
"We have the capacity with 2.4 million individuals available to us ... to handle this ongoing war and anything I can think of that's on the horizon," Pace said.
[...]
In addition, about 3,000 soldiers in a number of transportation and other support units based in Kuwait will be extended beyond one year, an official said Thursday. Many of them are in the National Guard or Reserve.
[As valuable as our National Guard soldiers have been, the Dimocrats thought nothing about denigrating President Bush's NG service!--J.T.]
They are deemed critical to resupplying the troops based in Iraq.
At a Baghdad news conference Thursday, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked whether the troop extensions indicate plans for large-scale offensive operations. He did not answer directly, saying the move was deemed necessary given "extremist and terrorist acts that must be dealt with."
Myers said it has yet to be determined how long the added combat power will be kept in Iraq.
"It will depend on events here on the ground," he said. "But I think what it shows is our resolve to see this situation through." Myers was in Baghdad for talks with U.S. and coalition commanders and to meet with L. Paul Bremer, Iraq's U.S. administrator.
The advantage of keeping soldiers of the 1st Armored and the 2nd Armored Cavalry in Iraq for an extra three months — rather than bringing in an equivalent number from elsewhere — is that these soldiers have unmatched combat experience in Iraq and familiarity with insurgents' tactics.
[Too right! We need you!]
The Army is so stretched by its commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and elsewhere that it has few, if any, forces immediately available to substitute in Iraq for the 1st Armored or 2nd Armored Cavalry.
Also, these units have been heavily involved in one of the most important U.S. military missions there: training thousands of Iraqi security forces. Those Iraqi army and civil defense corps members are central to the Pentagon's plan for eventually turning over military control to the Iraqis and pulling out U.S. troops.
[...]
The 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Armored Cavalry recently returned home to Louisiana, but the rest of the unit will remain in Iraq. May did not say how much longer his unit would be in Iraq.
Other defense officials said family members were told the soldiers probably would be back at Fort Polk in about four months. They likely will be in Iraq an extra three months, then take a month to redeploy.
The 1st Armored and the 2nd Armored Cavalry are part of a contingent of about 135,000 U.S. soldiers who were being replaced this spring by a fresh group of soldiers and Marines. The 101st Airborne, the 4th Infantry Division and other units recently left Iraq, with the arrival of the 1st Infantry Division, a brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, the 1st Cavalry Division and the 1st Marine Division. Two brigades of the Army National Guard also are newly arrived.
[...]
"We are being called to end the fight against Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army and we will," [Col. Bradley W.] May said, referring to the militia of the radical Shiite cleric who has incited violence against the U.S.-led occupation forces in southern cities including Najaf.
[And it looks as if we've already turned the corner in that fight: Muqtie's been increasingly more willing to accept peace on our terms!]
Still, the change of plans is bound to take a psychological toll. In a letter to his troops in January, May assured them that their time in Iraq was "fast approaching its conclusion."
Here's a big shout out to all the fine young men and women of those NG brigades, the 1st and the 2nd Armored Cav., and the 1st Armored Div.!
I know it's "murder" not to be able to go home to your families when you thought you were going to and it wears on a soldier to remain in harm's way, but as I commented above, if we can secure the peace in Iraq until June 30, when the handover of civil control takes place, we'll have done a very good thing for the democratic future of Iraq.
And thanks to your putting down of al-Sadr's insurgency, there are a lot fewer IslamoFascist terrorists we have to worry about coming over to the homeland to do their jihadi killing!
May God continue to bless you all, give you the victory and protect you from harm.
And may the next 2 or 3 months of duty pass quickly and quietly.
Americans can't begin to repay you for your service and sacrifice, but we'll try!
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