WASHINGTON, April 21: The US military may need to send more troops to Iraq to combat "serious" insurgent violence, the top US general said Wednesday, warning that the costs of military operations also are climbing.
Extending the deployment of 20,000 troops already in Iraq for three more months alone will cost an estimated 700 million dollars, General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
"This is a serious situation," Gen Myers said, who visited Iraq last week. "We're at war. We have a lot at stake against these extremists in Iraq." Gen Myers gave one of the most candid official assessments yet of events in Iraq, which marked a further turn away from the administration's stance that a smaller US force coupled with Iraqi security forces could secure Iraq.
He said General John Abizaid, commander of US forces in Iraq, was assessing what additional forces may be needed on top of the 135,000 American troops already there. "Some of that will have to do with how we handle ourselves in Fallujah," Gen Myers told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. "If more forces are required, we have forces identified."
If Gen Abizaid asks for more, the Defence Department will have to send units back to Iraq sooner than promised, Gen Myers said. "They will certainly go over ready and well equipped, but they may not have had as much time at home as we were hoping to provide them," he said.
The Pentagon also was considering whether to send tanks and other heavy armour that the 1st Cavalry Division, which is now in the Baghdad area, had left in Texas, he said. The US Army already has most of its 10 combat divisions either in Iraq or committed to other overseas engagements.
The others are resting from deployments to Iraq and overhauling and repairing combat equipment. "We are going to have to dig very deep if we have to add more (troops)," Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said.
Spain, Honduras and the Dominican Republic have announced they are withdrawing their troops from Iraq, and US officials have said it was unlikely other allies will put up additional forces as long as the fighting rages. Troops from the 1st Armored Division, which have been held back in Iraq, will be used to fill the gap left by Spain's withdrawal, Gen Myers said. -AFP
