The Guardian April 10, 2004
Homecoming of US troops is halted as crisis deepens
By Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
One year after US tanks rolled into the heart of Baghdad, the Pentagon was forced to step up its firepower dramatically yesterday, cancelling the demobilisation of some 25,000 soldiers who had been due to go home after completing their tour in the war zone. "We're going to do whatever it takes to ensure that we're successful out here, and if that includes bringing in more troops, we will," the commander of US forces in Iraq, General John Abizaid, told the Washington Post.
"We will do whatever is necessary to get the situation under control, to include bringing in additional forces [and] extending forces."
He added: "Everything is on the table."
The Pentagon currently has 135,000 troops in Iraq. But as many as 25,000 of those were counting down the days to their departure, as the military completes its annual rotation, replacing war-weary soldiers with fresh troops.
Their demobilisation looked increasingly distant yesterday, as did the prospect for President George Bush's plans to scale down the number of US forces in Iraq by 25,000 before November's US presidential election.
It also represents a u-turn for Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary who clashed last year with the former army chief, Eric Shinseki, over the planning for the invasion. Gen Shinseki had angered Mr Rumsfeld by predicting that the Pentagon would need a force of 150,000 over several years in Iraq. Mr Rumsfeld's civilian aides insisted that the US would be able to reduce its forces to 30,000 within a few months of the war.
But amid images from Iraq this week of bloodied American troops and warnings from Democratic leaders that Iraq was Mr Bush's Vietnam, the Pentagon came under intense pressure to restore order. By yesterday, conservative commentators were accusing Mr Rumsfeld of underestimating the military needs for postwar Iraq.
Although the extra troops will reassure those concerned about the spreading chaos in Iraq, there were almost immediate signs of a backlash in the US itself.
Military experts say the continuing deployments have placed an unacceptable burden on America's erstwhile "weekend warriors", the national guard and reservist units.
Raising the force levels for a prolonged period could deepen problems of low morale, they warn.
"This is significant because it is potentially a harbinger of things to come, illustrative of where the situation might be going and of what people are worried about," John Pike, an analyst at globalsecurity.org, said.
Some troops, such as those of the Connecticut national guard, have so far had their homecoming delayed three times, and their families said yesterday that their patience was running out.
"This would be the fourth time they have been told to pack and that they were going to leave and then it was cancelled," said Elizabeth Marco, whose husband is with an engineering unit in Baghdad.
"They just treat these guys like animals. I just am filled with fury. I just feel like he is in jail and has been ripped from his life."
© Copyright 2004, Guardian Newspapers Limited
