U.S. Army Mulls Shorter Iraq, Afghan Combat Duty
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The U.S. Army is considering  shortening yearlong combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan amid  concerns the long and perilous duty is making it hard to  attract new soldiers and keep current ones, officials said on  Monday.
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Holding troops in place for 120 days is another indication of the strains the drawn-out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have put on the Army.
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The odds of success in Iraq are less than even &#151; maybe as slight as one in four &#151; but the United States should continue to play a fighting role although a diminished one, for at least two or three years, a prominent analyst says in a new book.
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The U.S. military published a new counterinsurgency manual on Friday that draws on lessons from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and stresses that troops must be able to do more than just fight.
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The U.S. Army, which has borne much of the weight of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, would get $130 billion under President Bush's 2008 budget &#151; a sizable increase that would help ease the strain and meet equipment needs.
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U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan are likely to remain steady, at about 21,000, at least until next February, the top U.S. general there said Thursday, echoing earlier comments about forces in Iraq.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will consider a proposal to send some 3,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan to thwart any spring offensive by Taliban militants, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
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WASHINGTON -- Army Secretary Pete Geren ruled out extending troop deployments yesterday beyond the current 15 months, saying that longer tours in Iraq put stress on soldiers and their families and have contributed to an increase in suicides.
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Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who is contemplating a run for the presidency, on Monday called for a "gradual and substantial" reduction of U.S. forces from Iraq that would begin in four to six months.
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In a report considered crucial to U.S. strategy in the highly unpopular war in Iraq, the top U.S. commander there is expected to tell Congress on Monday that U.S. troop levels should not be cut deeply.
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Iraq's military is drawing up plans to cope with any quick U.S. military pullout as a senior American official warned that the Bush administration may reconsider its support if Iraqi leaders don't make major reforms by fall
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The United States may be able to reduce its troop levels in Iraq after the January elections if security improves and Iraqi government
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The Pentagon is considering delaying  the departure of some troops in Iraq and speeding the arrival  of others already due to deploy to boost force levels for the  January elections, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
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PORTOROZ, Slovenia  - NATO states will probably   offer more troops and equipment to meet shortfalls in   Afghanistan when their defense ministers meet on Thursday, but   holes will remain, a U.S. government official said on   Wednesday.
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U.S. forces in Iraq should be reduced significantly, according to a new study on Iraq's security forces that inflamed debate in Congress on how quickly that can happen without hurling the country into chaos.
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A classified Pentagon assessment concludes that long battlefield tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with persistent terrorist activity and other threats, have prevented the U.S. military from improving its ability to respond to any new crisis, The Associated Press has learned.
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It could be next spring before U.S. troops in Iraq can hand over areas gained in their latest offensive to Iraqi forces and start to draw down, a top American commander said on Friday.