Pentagon: Officers may differ on Iraq

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Source: Associated Press

Pentagon: Officers may differ on Iraq
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush may not get a unified view from senior military leaders on how well the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is working and how long it should continue, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

The statement by Geoff Morrell, the new Pentagon press secretary, reflected indications that top commanders in Iraq prefer to keep the troop buildup in place longer than do some members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The split in views is explained at least in part by the concerns of the Army and Marine Corps that lengthy and repeated troop deployments to Iraq are putting a big and growing strain on troops and their families. They worry that this puts at risk the military's ability to respond on short notice to another major military conflict elsewhere in the world — and to recruit enough to keep their ranks filled.

Decisions about the way forward in Iraq are expected in September after Bush hears from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, on what has been accomplished with the revised strategy Bush put into effect in January with the addition of 30,000 troops.

In addition to the views of Petraeus, Bush will hear from numerous other top military officers, including Adm. William Fallon, the senior commander for U.S. forces in the Middle East, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070829/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq