Joint chiefs chair says military ready for war with Iraq

The U.S. military will have a "credible force" in position to attack Iraq whenever President Bush would make a decision to go to war, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers told a defense writers' breakfast Wednesday.

Although the buildup of military forces in the Persian Gulf region "will continue apace," Myers said: "We're ready now. And the Iraqi regime should have no doubt that if the president of the United States decided today [to attack]," the forces are ready.

Myers said the Pentagon is conducting studies now on how long the military can sustain its forces in the region before it begins to affect combat readiness and morale.

"My estimate is we can do that for some time, for several months" before it has any negative impact on the force, he said. Those studies will determine if some rotation of units would be required at some point.

Although the Pentagon announced a call-up of 20,000 more military reserve and National Guard personnel Wednesday, bringing the total to 78,906. Myers said estimates of a mobilization of up to 200,000 "is probably off base," but that if a decision is made to go to war with Iraq, the reserve mobilization "will be fairly high."