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Drawdown unlikely, as brigade is readied

BY CRAIG GORDON | Newsday Washington Bureau

June 8, 2006

WASHINGTON - An Army brigade whose deployment to Iraq was put on hold just one month ago now is making preparations to ship out, the latest move that casts doubt on U.S. hopes for a sizable drawdown this year.

The 3,500-strong 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division is preparing to send equipment from its base in Germany to Iraq for an expected one-year tour, but has not been given final orders to go, a defense official said yesterday.

That's a reversal of a Pentagon announcement May 8 that the unit's deployment was being shelved indefinitely as Iraq's newly elected government took shape - a milestone U.S. officials hoped would lay the groundwork for American forces to begin coming home.

Instead, the past month has demonstrated just how difficult the road ahead in Iraq truly is. A spike in insurgent violence made May one of the deadliest months for Iraqi civilians, marked by brazen daylight kidnappings and sectarian killings.

In addition, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has struggled into existence with the key security positions of defense and interior ministers still not chosen.

Already last week, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, had to tap a 1,500-strong force he was keeping in reserve in Kuwait so he could deal with a spike in violence in the insurgent heartland of Ramadi.

Casey had said last year that he envisioned "fairly substantial" reductions in U.S. forces in Iraq this year, so long as Iraq continued to make political progress and improve security.

Pentagon officials have said they hoped to see troop levels drop from 132,000 today to about 100,000 by year's end, though some analysts say even those plans now are in doubt amid persistent questions over whether Iraqi security forces can stand up to the insurgents.

President George W. Bush and Republicans in Congress had hoped to start a troop drawdown ahead of congressional elections this fall to appease voters angry about the war.

Also yesterday, the top U.S. Marine said he was "gravely concerned" about reports of a Marine rampage in an Iraqi village where 24 civilians were killed last November, but refused to shed any light on the investigation.

The Marine commandant, Gen. Michael Hagee, also said he has not offered his resignation to Bush over the Haditha incident, which some in Congress fear could tarnish the U.S. image in Iraq worse than the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

The military is investigating villagers' reports that Marines angered by the death of a fellow Marine in a roadside bombing killed the civilians in revenge.

Hagee confirmed that he had seen Marine intelligence photos of the dead in Haditha, who include women and children reportedly shot at close range, but would not discuss them.

Marines also are implicated in the April 26 killing of an Iraqi man in Hamdaniya who was dragged from his home and shot to death, apparently without provocation. In that episode, Marines reportedly planted a weapon near the body to make the man appear to be an insurgent.

Hagee recently returned from a tour of Marine bases in Iraq and North Carolina, where he said morale remains high despite the allegations.

"Are they concerned? Yes. But they know that we are going to ... complete those investigations, and if any individual has been found to have violated our standards, rules or regulations, they will be held accountable," Hagee told reporters at the Pentagon.