360: Unlikely Hero: August 25, 2007

General Requests Iraq Troop Reduction

Scoop: General Pace to Call for Sharp Troop Cuts in Iraq

Published: August 24, 2007 11:30 AM ET
NEW YORK Setting up further tension in the critical coming weeks, the Los Angeles Times today reports that Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "is expected to advise President Bush to reduce the U.S. force in Iraq next year by almost half, potentially creating a rift with top White House officials and other military commanders over the course of the war."

Bush has often said that he will "listen to the generals" but has often not followed that dictum.

Administration and military officials say Pace "is likely to convey concerns by the Joint Chiefs that keeping well in excess of 100,000 troops in Iraq through 2008 will severely strain the military," reporters Julian Barnes and Peter Spiegel revealed. "This assessment could collide with one being prepared by the U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, calling for the U.S. to maintain higher troop levels for 2008 and beyond.

"Petraeus is expected to support a White House view that the absence of widespread political progress in Iraq requires several more months of the U.S. troop buildup before force levels are decreased to their pre-buildup numbers sometime next year.

"Pace's recommendations reflect the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who initially expressed private skepticism about the strategy ordered by Bush and directed by Petraeus, before publicly backing it.

"According to administration and military officials, the Joint Chiefs believe it is of crucial strategic importance to reduce the size of the U.S. force in Iraq in order to bolster the military's ability to respond to other threats, a view that is shared by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

"Pace is expected to offer his advice privately instead of issuing a formal report. Still, the position of Pace and the Joint Chiefs could add weight to that of Bush administration critics, including Democratic presidential candidates, that the U.S. force should be reduced."

The remainder of the article is posted at www.latimes.com