The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intense debate.
Sending 15,000 to 30,00 more troops for a mission of possibly six to eight months is one of the central proposals on the table of the White House policy review to reverse the steady deterioration in Iraq. The option is being discussed as an element in a range of bigger packages, the officials said.
But the Joint Chiefs think the White House, after a month of talks, still does not have a defined mission and is latching on to the surge idea in part because of limited alternatives, despite warnings about the potential disadvantages for the military, said the officials, who asked not to be identified.
At regular interagency meetings and in briefing President Bush last week, the Pentagon has warned that any short-term mission may only set up the United States for bigger problems when it ends.
The Joint Chiefs have warned, for example, that the Shiite militias may simply melt back into society during a U.S. surge and wait until the troops are withdrawn–then re-emerge and retake the streets of Baghdad and other cities.
The idea of a much larger military deployment for a longer mission is virtually off the table, at least so far, mainly for logistics reasons, say officials familiar with the debate. Any deployment of 40,000 to 50,000 would force the Pentagon to redeploy troops who were scheduled to go home.
A senior administration official said it is “too simplistic” to say the surge question has broken down into a fight between the White House and the Pentagon, but the official acknowledged that the military has questioned the option. “Of course, military leadership is going to be focused on the mission–what you’re trying to accomplish, the ramifications it would have on broader issues in terms of manpower and strength and all that,” the official said.
Bush is “keeping his cards pretty close to his vest,” and his view on a troop surge remains unclear, the official said.
What is clear to the Pentagon is that the situation in Iraq is not improving. A military assessment issued Monday concluded that attacks against American and Iraqi targets rose this summer and autumn to their highest level yet.
From mid-August to mid-November, the weekly average number of attacks was 959, an increase of 22 percent from the previous three months, the Pentagon said.
On Monday, a car bomb killed five people and wounded at least 19 in the southern Sunni area of Sadiya, and police said they found 44 bodies across Baghdad, some handcuffed, blindfolded and showing signs of torture.
More Top Picks Best Tennis Ball Machines
The U.S. military announced the deaths of three U.S. military personnel, raising to 60 the number of Americans killed in December.
The Iraqi Red Crescent shut down its Baghdad operations Monday, a day after gunmen seized 30 of the aid group’s workers and volunteers. Sixteen guards, drivers and other workers, along with two visitors and three guards from the nearby Dutch Embassy, were freed later, the group said.