General says Army needs to reduce combat tours in Iraq

President Bush's nominee to be Army vice chief of staff Thursday stressed the need to reduce combat tours in Iraq to a maximum of 12 months, acknowledging that the current 15-month deployments are not sustainable over the long term.

"Twelve months is our goal and 12 months is what we need to get to have a viable, sustainable Army over the long term," Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, former commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, told the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing Thursday. "We have to continually work to move toward that."

Odierno, who has spent 30 months in Iraq, could not guarantee to the panel that the Army could cut tour lengths by early this summer, saying the goal is to reduce tour lengths "as soon as we possibly can."

Echoing concerns raised by other Army leaders, Odierno acknowledged a "fairly heavy" stress on the Army. While deployed forces are well-trained and equipped, forces at their home stations do not have the equipment or personnel they need, he said.

During the hearing, the panel questioned Gen. David McKiernan, who has been nominated to serve as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

McKiernan, who serves as the commander of U.S. Army Europe, pledged to focus on a range of issues in Afghanistan, including efforts to counter the growing drug trade. McKiernan acknowledged the need for more NATO forces in Afghanistan, where the United States is sending 3,200 Marines to make up for a shortfall.

"There is a question of will in terms of getting all the contributions [from NATO] so we can build the right capacity to execute the mission," McKiernan told the panel.

Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided to send the Marines to Afghanistan to stop an anticipated spring uprising by the Taliban. Gates has been urging NATO forces to take the place of additional Marines after their seven-month deployments are up.

He has emphasized that the Marine Corps deployment amounts to a one-time plus-up. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the former chairman of the panel, Thursday sharply criticized NATO's reluctance to send adequate forces to Afghanistan.

"This could end up with the demise of NATO as we have known it these many years," Warner said.

Tension over the Afghanistan mission could ultimately lead the United States to re-examine the "very significantly participation ... of this nation in NATO," Warner said.