Top military leaders differ on withdrawals

WASHINGTON —  The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that no decision had been made to stop the withdrawal of troops in Iraq this summer, a subtle rebuke of the top U.S. commander there, who suggested that reductions would pause after the current round of cuts was completed in July.

The comments underscore the divergent views among top Defense Department officials over the long-term troop commitment to Iraq. Differences have become increasingly apparent ahead of new recommendations to the White House and Congress planned as early as next month.

Many military leaders in Washington, including members of the Joint Chiefs, are eager to continue withdrawals to ease strains caused by repeated deployments. Many commanders in Iraq are concerned that troop cuts could jeopardize recent security gains.

In a televised interview this week, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said that after extra troops sent last year return home in July, he would need “some time to let things settle down a bit” before deciding on further reductions.

However, Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman, emphasized Friday that Petraeus had made no formal recommendation to halt the withdrawal.

Mullen also said other military commanders, including the Joint Chiefs themselves, would have a direct say in the decision.

“We aren’t working in opposition to each other; in fact, there’s quite a bit of collaboration going on,” Mullen said at a Pentagon news conference. “But we are working with and from different perspectives, and that’s how it should be.”

Senior Bush administration officials privately acknowledge tension between the Joint Chiefs and generals in Iraq, particularly between Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. and officers such as Petraeus and Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the day-to-day operational commander.

“You’ve got two very different casts of characters,” said one senior administration official involved in Iraq policy, discussing tensions only on condition of anonymity. “Petraeus and Odierno are going to represent what they need on the ground to perform their mission. Then you have guys like Gen. Casey, [who is] saying, ‘OK, I’ve got stresses on the force.’ ”

Senior Defense officials said Casey and Gen. James T. Conway, the commandant of the Marine Corps, expressed renewed concerns over the stress on their forces caused by repeated deployments during a high-level meeting of four-star commanders in the Pentagon this week.

According to officials briefed on the discussions, Casey urged Pentagon decision makers to quickly return to 12-month overseas deployments for the Army. Combat brigades now serve 15-month tours.

In addition, at a meeting with military writers Friday, Conway said the Marines could not continue their current deployment to Iraq beyond October while fulfilling a new commitment to Afghanistan.

“We have told the secretary we’re taking one for the team here,” Conway said of the new deployment of 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan, which will begin in spring. “The point that we have made in the discussions is: We cannot continue to do it without relief elsewhere.”

Under previously announced plans, troop levels in Iraq are expected to drop from a peak of nearly 170,000 last year to about 135,000 in July, when the last of five extra combat brigades return home. The withdrawal would reduce the U.S. presence to 15 brigades, about the same level in place before the start of the buildup just more than a year ago.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates repeatedly has expressed hope that conditions in Iraq will allow troop reductions to continue through the end of the Bush administration, dropping the force size to 10 brigades, or about 100,000 troops, by the end of the year.

But some generals in Iraq have said publicly that continuing withdrawals after July would put security gains at risk.

Odierno’s chief of staff, Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, said Friday that 15 brigades would “clearly allow us to maintain” the current security situation through the end of the year. He also acknowledged that improvements in the Iraqi security forces may allow for faster reductions.

Other commanders in Iraq have expressed skepticism over whether Iraqi forces and volunteer groups can fill the gap. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, the commander of U.S. forces in the Baghdad region, said he hoped to put more U.S. and Iraqi forces in the area by opening 19 additional outposts, bringing the total to 94.

“We’re not going to make the same mistakes we made in the past, and that’s turning over too quickly any piece of Baghdad and losing ground,” he said this week. “I don’t want there to be any place in Baghdad where Al Qaeda or anyone else can start to take hold.”

Strains between Iraq commanders and the Joint Chiefs, then headed by Marine Gen. Peter Pace, also arose before a report by Petraeus in September. Then, Pace was cautious about airing the Joint Chiefs’ concerns and was criticized for not pressing their concerns more forcefully in private.

Mullen on Friday reiterated his intention to present President Bush with his own evaluation of global security risks, but said the strain on the Army and Marine Corps would be a key factor in his recommendation.

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peter.spiegel@latimes.com

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Times staff writer Tina Susman in Baghdad contributed to this report.