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General says troops in Iraq 'stretched'
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-27 08:41
The top U.S. commander in Iraq acknowledged on Thursday that the U.S. Army
was stretched but insisted forces here were capable of accomplishing their
mission and any recommendation to reduce troops further would be dictated by the
situation on the battlefield.
U.S. officials said Gen. George Casey was speaking about the Army in general
and not specifically about the 136,000-strong force in Iraq. However, his
comments are likely to fuel a debate inside the U.S. government over whether the
United States can sustain the fight long enough to break the back of the Sunni
Arab-led insurgency.
"The forces are stretched ... and I don't think there's any question of
that," Casey told reporters. "But the Army has been for the last several years
going through a modernization strategy that will produce more units and more
ready units."
A fuel tanker burns after being hit with
gunfire from unknown attackers, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq.
[AP] | Casey said he had discussed manpower strains with Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker on
Wednesday and that the Army chief of staff feels he can sustain missions around
the world. Casey was adamant that the troops in Iraq were getting the job done.
"So, yep, folks are stretched here but they certainly accomplish their
mission, and the forces that you've seen on the ground are absolutely
magnificent," Casey added.
In Washington, President Bush brushed aside talk that the United States could
not prevail in Iraq.
"If the question is whether or not we can win victory in Iraq, our commanders
will have the troops necessary to do that. If the question is, Can we help keep
the peace in a place like the Far East? Absolutely," Bush told reporters.
"And let me use the Far East as an example of what I'm talking about," the
president continued. "There were some 30,000 on the South Korean peninsula. As
you might remember, we reduced the amount of manpower and replaced it with
technology."
Meanwhile, the U.S. command announced that two more American soldiers died
Wednesday — one in a bombing south of Baghdad and a second of wounds suffered in
a rocket attack in Ramadi. At least 2,238 members of the U.S. military have died
since the war began, according to an Associated Press count.
At least 11 Iraqis were killed Thursday in attacks around the country, police
said.
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