Gates: Ending 15-month tours 'would degrade combat readiness'; Calls for veto of any legislation for increased troop rest times as 'backdoor' drawdown

Above: A soldier from the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment provides security during a patrol in the Karkh District of Baghdad last week. The soldiers man combat outpost 'Remagen', part of Petraues' plan to place forces among the populace. At the outpost the soldiers can expect no showers for days, and just the bare minimum of lighting and air conditioning. One hot meal is served each day.

Gates sees no change in tours

Plans to draw down the number of U.S. troops in Iraq over the next nine months won’t prompt an immediate change in the 15-month tours soldiers serve now, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday...

On Thursday, Bush announced plans not to replace about 5,700 troops due to return to the U.S. by the end of the year and to draw down up to 30,000 troops by July...

Despite the lower number of troops expected in Iraq, Gates said he opposes several proposals in Congress to return Army units to 12-month tours overseas, saying the demands on the force still require the longer deployments.

“We would have to look at increasing the use of in-lieu-of troops being deployed. We’d have to look at significantly increasing the deployment of Guard and Reserve units,” he said. “I also think that would degrade combat readiness … which could result in less-effective units being deployed”...

Gates said a return to 12-month combat tours could also force planners to cut into units’ time home for rest and retraining.

Read the rest at Stars and Stripes

Gates Urges Veto of Troop-Rest Measure

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday he would recommend a veto of a Senate proposal that would give troops more rest between deployments in Iraq, branding it a dangerous "backdoor way" to draw down forces.

Democrats pledged to push ahead with the plan by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and expressed confidence they could round up the votes to pass it, although perhaps not by the margin to override a veto...

With the Senate expected to resume debate this week on anti-war legislation, Gates sharpened his criticism of Webb's proposal. It would require troops get as much time at their home station as their deployments to the war front.

Gates was asked in broadcast interviews about recommending a veto to Bush should the proposal pass. "Yes I would," the Pentagon chief said.

"If it were enacted, we would have force management problems that would be extremely difficult and, in fact, affect combat effectiveness and perhaps pose greater risk to our troops," he said.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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