ROBERT BURNS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 7, 2005; 2:41 AM
WASHINGTON -- Hurricane Katrina's devastating blow has put a spotlight on the military's helping hand and largely diverted Americans' attention from the mix of grim and hopeful events playing out in Iraq.
Even as thousands more troops poured into Louisiana and Mississippi on Tuesday to accelerate the search and rescue of stranded Katrina survivors, military officials in Iraq reported the deaths of four more U.S. troops and Marine jets bombed targets near the Syrian border where al-Qaida has expanded its presence.
Iraq developments were not all bad _ U.S.-trained Iraqi forces assumed control of a city that saw bitter fighting last year. But the shift to news images of troops performing urgent humanitarian missions on the Gulf Coast has overshadowed what was a major headache for the Bush administration: a growing public impatience with the war.
"Iraq must be doing really well _ I'm not reading anything about it in the papers," joked Dan Goure, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute think tank, reflecting the complaint of many administration officials that media coverage of the Iraq war has largely focused on the death and destruction.
At a Pentagon news conference Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld stressed that the enormous effort being made in hurricane relief will not diminish the military's ability to fight wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"Let me be clear: We have the forces, the capability and the intention to fully prosecute the global war on terror while responding to this unprecedented humanitarian crisis here at home. We can and will do both," Rumsfeld said.
During the news conference no one asked about developments in Iraq, such as the airstrikes near the border city of Qaim, major parts of which have fallen under control of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters.
Iraqi officials and residents say al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has taken over parts of Qaim.
Goure said he found the situation in Qaim particularly troublesome, given that the city has been a problem for U.S. forces in the past. It shows the insurgents are still able to create sanctuaries and to frustrate U.S. and Iraqi government efforts to stop the flow of foreign fighters across the Syrian border, he said.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Rumsfeld news conference that although Katrina relief operations are a high priority for the military, that has not forced changes in the Iraq plan.
"Troop levels are going to be what the commanders wanted and what they've asked for" in Iraq and Afghanistan, Myers said. "So nothing has changed."
Lt. Gen. John Vines, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, told reporters last Friday that only about 2,000 troops would be added in the weeks leading up to a scheduled Oct. 15 national referendum on an Iraqi constitution. Previously, U.S. officials had indicated that as many as 20,000 could be added, and Vines' remark sparked speculation that the demands of Katrina relief had forced the Pentagon to change plans.
"That's wrong, too," Myers said. "The plan that we've had in effect will stay in effect."
The Pentagon has accelerated the return from Iraq of about 2,800 members of a Louisiana combat brigade, who are already beginning to arrive at Fort Polk, northwest of New Orleans. The unit had been scheduled to come home later this month, but its departure was hastened because of Hurricane Katrina.
Also, a few Mississippi National Guard infantry members are being sent home early, and any other service members who have close family or homes in the hurricane-devastated region may request emergency leave from their unit commanders.
"We're working to reunite the men and women in uniform that are deployed overseas with their families here at home," said Rumsfeld. "A number of the families that are stationed in that area obviously lost all their possessions."
Myers offered a spirited defense of the military's response to calls for help on the Gulf Coast. He said he told the service chiefs on Tuesday, after learning that levees in New Orleans had been breached, that they should consider what useful resources they could offer even before they were formally asked to help.
Confusion persisted about the scale of the military contribution.
The Pentagon has insisted for days that no more than 5,200 active-duty Army soldiers, plus 2,000 Marines, would be sent to help with Katrina relief. But in an Associated Press telephone interview from New Orleans, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell IV, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, said Tuesday he was forming a force of about 7,000 soldiers, including 5,000 from his division, 1,400 from the 1st Cavalry Division and 600 from the 13th Corps Support Command. That is in addition to about 2,000 Marines.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original URL:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090700269_pf.html