06 November 2003
Rumsfeld Announces Upcoming Troop Rotations for Iraq, Afghanistan
Says there are no plans to leave Iraq "precipitously"
By Jacquelyn S. Porth
Washington File Security Affairs Writer
Washington -- In unveiling U.S. plans to rotate troops in Iraq next year, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said November 6 that the strategy will be to ensure that the Iraqi people are able to assume responsibility for governing, running essential services, and providing security.
There are no plans to leave Iraq precipitously, Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon, but the transition will be made as rapidly as possible. Many of the U.S. troops will begin rotating out in the first quarter of 2004, the secretary said, but they will be replaced.
Rumsfeld said some 85,000 combat personnel have already received word that they will be rotating in. Some 43,000 National Guard and Reserve officers may be mobilized to support "Operation Iraqi Freedom," he said, while another 3,700 Guard and Reserve forces may be needed for "Operation Enduring Freedom" in Afghanistan.
The deployment orders are going out now to give the maximum notice possible to the service members, their families and employers, according to the secretary. The early alert is also designed to allow for additional training time, he said.
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace was quoted November 5 as saying that the number of American troops in Iraq would shrink from the current high of around 130,000 to 100,000 next year.
Rumsfeld said the goal has always been to pass increasing responsibilities back to the Iraqi people. Iraq is already the second-largest contributor to the coalition, he said, with some 118,000 Iraqi security forces working their beats. Soon, he suggested, "they will outnumber U.S.-plus coalition forces in the country."
The security situation in Iraq is constantly being evaluated, the secretary said, and if circumstances permit, the United States will draw down one division next year, going from four to three, and reduce the number of brigades from 17 to 13. Regardless, he said the rotation of forces means that the composition and capabilities of the forces will change.
"Moreover, as the number of Iraqi forces continues to increase, and as the other countries consider deployments," which they are doing, Rumsfeld said, "the total number of coalition forces, including Iraqi security forces, clearly will grow." The plan calls for having more than 200,000 Iraqis engaged in security functions by next September.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers, who accompanied Rumsfeld at the podium, said most people are surprised by how fast Iraq's new security force has grown. He said recruitment has been steady because decent wages are being paid and the numbers have grown as all of the various training programs are now online.
Asked about a speech Senator John McCain (Arizona, Republican) made this week calling for greater U.S. troop deployments to Iraq, Rumsfeld said none of the commanders in the field have made that recommendation. If they did, he said, Pentagon officials would go to the president requesting those increases.
Myers also pointed out that the forces that will be rotating into Iraq early next year will be structured differently. As an example, he said, there would be a lot more infantry troops deployed. "We intend to see this through," Rumsfeld noted.
The secretary was also asked about recent news reports that Iraq sought, through its intelligence chief, to avert the war. He said the Central Intelligence Agency has already responded to that report, but Rumsfeld noted that the Iraqi regime had more than ample opportunities to avoid war. "There were something like 18 U.N. resolutions. There was a declaration where they had the opportunity. The president gave a last chance ultimatum," he added.
Representatives from all three military services also briefed reporters on the specifics of rotation plans November 6. Marine Corps Lieutenant General Jan Huly, deputy commandant for plans, policy and operations, said the rotation will be implemented while other worldwide military commitments are fulfilled. This will be accomplished, he said, by cutting back on discretionary activities, such as duration or frequency of military exercises.
Members of Congress already have been briefed on the rotation plan. And members of a congressional delegation who just returned from a short tour of Baghdad and Mosul were asked about it on November 6, following a breakfast meeting with Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. Representative Mac Thornberry (Texas, Republican) said the nine members of his delegation left Iraq "more encouraged" than before their trip about Iraq's ability to form a stable nation.
Thornberry also said some of the troops they met have been in Iraq since the start of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" and they are ready to go home. On the issue of possibly increasing the number of U.S. forces there, he pointed to the risk of stirring up anti-American sentiment. He also said it is important "to trust the folks whose job it is to carry out the mission to tell you how many people they need."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=November&x=20031106180625htrop0.7869379&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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