Washington – Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday that he would recommend a veto of a Senate proposal that would give troops more rest between deployments in Iraq, branding it a dangerous “back- door way” to draw down forces.
Democrats pledged to push ahead with the plan by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and expressed confidence they could round up the votes to pass it, although perhaps not by the margin to override a veto.
“The operational tempo that our forces are under is excruciatingly difficult for our soldiers, Marines, all of our personnel and their families,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. “They deserve the same amount of time back home as they stay in the field.”
The comments represented the latest political clash over the future course of the war. Last week, President Bush announced plans for a limited drawdown but indicated that combat forces would stay in Iraq well past 2008.
With the Senate expected to resume debate this week on anti-war legislation, Gates sharpened his criticism of Webb’s proposal. “If it were enacted, we would have force- management problems that would be extremely difficult and, in fact, affect combat effectiveness and perhaps pose greater risk to our troops,” he said.
