- WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Some
18,000 national guard soldiers from four states have been alerted for possible
deployment to Iraq late this year and early next for up to a year, the
Pentagon said.
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- The alert was a concrete sign that the US military plans
to have troops in Iraq at least through 2005, a defense official said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
-
- "We're saying through the fall of '05 there will
be forces," the official said.
-
- Put on alert were the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters
from New York, the 256th Separate Infantry Brigade from Louisiana, the
116th Separate Armored Brigade from Idaho and the 278th Armored Cavalry
Regiment from Tennessee.
-
- The Pentagon said the units would "likely"
be called up in the next rotation of forces in support of operations in
Iraq.
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- "If needed, these forces would replace deployed
units starting in late 2004 and early 2005," it said in a statement.
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- The units put on alert will be mobilized over the next
several months for training, it said.
-
- The selection of national guard troops for Iraq suggests
that the army intends to shift more of the burden in Iraq to guard and
reserve troops to lighten the load on its stretched active duty combat
force.
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- The army currently has more than half of its 10 active
duty divisions either moving into or coming out of Iraq.
-
- The alert also reflects a new Pentagon policy of giving
members of the guard and reserves early enough warning of a deployment
so that they can arrange their jobs and private lives accordingly.
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- The US military is worried that frequent, short notice
deployments will make it harder to keep people in the guard and reserves.
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of Agence France Presse.
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