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Ex U.S. Army Chief: U.S. in Iraq for Long Stay
Reuters AlertNet http://www.alertnet.org/ Tuesday June 3, 2003
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - Former Army Secretary Thomas White said in an interview that it was time for the Pentagon to admit the U.S. military was in for a long stay in Iraq that will require a major commitment of troops. Senior defense officials "are unwilling to come to grips" with the scale of the postwar U.S. obligation in Iraq, White said in an interview published on Tuesday in USA Today. The newspaper said the interview was White's first since leaving the Pentagon in April under pressure from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld following a series of disagreements between the two men, including over the size of the force that would be needed to stabilize a postwar Iraq. "This is not what they were selling (before the war)," White said describing how senior defense officials downplayed the need for a large occupation force, the newspaper reported. "It's almost a question of people not wanting to fess up to the nation that we will be there a long time and they might have to set up a rotation and sustain it for the long term," said the former civilian head of the Army. The Pentagon has about 150,000 troops in Iraq and recently announced that the Army's 3rd Infantry Division's stay there was being extended indefinitely, USA Today said. USA Today quoted White as saying that it is reasonable to assume the Pentagon will need more than 100,000 U.S. troops in Iraq to provide stability for at least the next year. Rumsfeld has said the United States would remain in Iraq as long as it takes. But the defense chief has not been specific about the size of the force. Before the war, Rumsfeld openly disagreed with suggestions that several hundred thousands U.S. troops could be needed to stabilize a postwar Iraq. The Pentagon declined to respond to White's comments, but a senior official said it was too early to draw conclusions about the size or length of the U.S. troop commitment in Iraq, the newspaper said.
Direct Link: --http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03269569.htm
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