DoD: No secret that Iraq is U.S. priority

The message coming from the Pentagon is unequivocally clear on which war zone takes priority, "I don't think it's any secret to anyone out there that the focus of this building, the focus of this administration has been on winning the war in Iraq...that is the war we are now winning, " said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morell during a press briefing. "And now that we have seen gains there the dividend from those gains, we are looking to see if we can apply them to Afghanistan," he said.

Morrell emphasized previous statements made be Defense Department official. Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has repeatedly said when speaking of the two wars, 'In Afghanistan we do what we can. In Iraq we do what we must." As a guest on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer Mullen said that the urgency to move more troops to Afghanistan should not give the impression that the U.S. is losing there.

Morrell said that given the question of the pace of shifting more troops to Afghanistan as the surge winds down indicates that the ultimate decision will be up to the next administration. Commanders on the ground in Afghanistan, principally General Dan McNeil, have asked for 3 more combat brigades and about 3,000 police trainers. Morrell said that some of these needs are being met by NATO allies.

Additionally Morrell spoke to the U.S. military policy of "Don't ask, don't tell," being addressed in the House Armed Service Committee. Morrell said that at this time "Don't ask, don't tell" is the law of the land and there is no change in that policy on the horizon.

Gates explains Iran and Guatanamo policies to the Senate

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee about the FY09 Budget request for the Department of Defense. The total budget is $515.4 billion or 3.4 percent of U.S. GDP. $35 Billion more than last budget period. The budget includes $183.8 billion for modernization. Included in legislation is a request is for $70 billion in bridge funding which goes to funding the war. Gates made the complaint that the Congress still has not authorized the war supplemental request from $108 billion. Gates repeated a point made by his press secretary that Army payroll accounts could be dry by June if the Congress does not pass both the DoD budget and the war supplemental funding measures.


One of the most interesting exchanges occurred between Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Sec. Gates. Specter asked repeated question about the U.S. diplomatic relationship with Iran. Specter made reference to statements made by Gates last week, when he said that the U.S. should seek out more leverage to negotiate with Iran. Specter argued that the United States had more leverage in 2003 at the beginning of the war, when government of Iran seemed open to some kind of talks. Specter also said that it ridiculous to use our ultimate goal--the cessation of Iran's nuclear activities-- as a precondition to talks. "We sit across from them and speculate," said Specter saying that only more direct talks will lead to figuring out more leverage.


Also interesting was Sen. Diane Feinstein's (D-Calif) questions on the progress of a DoD investigation into the possibility of closing Guantanamo Bay prison. "Frankly, we're stuck," responded Gates. He outlined the roadblocks. Gates said that the Defense Department is struggling to get foreign countries to accept their detainees back, to ensure that accepted detainees are further detained and not let go, and to place detainees that will not be accepted back, will not be tried, but can not be released because of the risk that they will again engage in terrorism against the United States. Feinstein was critical saying that the investigation has done nothing so far to "absolve the massive loss of credibility" the U.S. has suffered over Guantanamo.

Pentagon PM report

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen briefed the press at the Pentagon. The made a brief opening statement about how May is Military Appreciation Month and then took questions.

Gates stressed that there is no plan to extend the tour of the 3,400 Marines currently in Afghanistan. He said that "no one has suggested even the possibility of extending that rotation and I'd be loath to do that." Mullen followed up that further additions of Marines to Afghanistan are "very much tied to troop levels in Iraq." Gates said that a transition for the Marines from Iraq to Afghanistan "should it occur would be very challenging."

On Myanmar the Secretary said that the Essex Strike Group has been offloading helicopters in Thailand where drops of supplies could be available in Myanmar within hours. The rest of the naval assets in the region have begun to head toward Myanmar in the even that the U.S. military is granted access to give aid. Both the secretary and the admiral stressed that under no circumstances would the U.S. move in without the permission of the Myanmar government. "The tragedy is compounded by the fact that if you look at what our Navy was able to do both with the tsunami and the Pakistani earthquake there is an opportunity here to save a lot of lives and we are fully prepared to help and help right away, it would be a tragedy if these assets, people didn't take advantage of them." Gates emphasized that the U.S. offer to help is totally non-political.

Secretary Gates said that the expulsion of two U.S. military attaches was merely a ti-for-tat response to an earlier expulsion of Russian diplomats from the U.S. for spying. He said that the major aspect of this is reciprocity. Gates, former head of the CIA and a PhD in Russian studies, said that there are intriguing developments coming out of Russia.

There seems to be a steady concern for the size of the force coming from the Department of Defense, especially regarding retention. Gates said that the Defense Department's opposition of the revised GI bill was that education benefits would be made available only after three years of service, instead of six years which is what the DoD would like to see. Gates said that the main concern from troops is the transferability of benefits to a spouse or child and that the Defense Department, in the interest of maintaining a qualified force would like to make these available after at least one reenlistment. Additionally, this concern about retention played out in a question about stop-loss. A higher overall number of military personnel are being stop-lossed now than in 2005. Gates said that stop-loss has been necessary to maintain unit integrity and that one of the main reasons for stop-loss was the 15-month deployments in Iraq. After the brigade combat teams are reduced to 15 in July, Gates said that he expects stop-loss to be reduced in September.

Pentagon: If Congress doesn't act, soldiers will go unpaid

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell briefed the press, starting with a statement about the Global War on Terror budget supplemental request, which is slated to go before the House this week. He said that currently the military is borrowing form Army payroll accounts in order to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that if the Congress does not act the the Defense Department will not be able to pay soldier, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan after June 15, 2008. He said the only options available if Congress does not pass $108 billion in war supplementals would be for the Defense Department to petition Congress to allow certain "re-programming" of other funds so that soldiers don't' go without pay.


The subject of Myanmar came up and Morrell said that there are several U.S. military assets in the region, which if requested could aid in disaster relief. These assets include 23 helicopters and a carrier with 1800 Marines aboard. Morrell said that these forces are only awaiting the request for help from the Burmese government.

The subject of the revised GI bill came up. Morrell wouldn't comment on any of the draft legislation in the Senate, but said that the Defense Department's priorities are to make education benefits transferable to military spouses and children and to have those education benefits become available after 6 years of service, which Morrell said would encourage a higher rate of retention in the force.

Morrell said that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said that the command structure in Afghanistan is something that is worth taking a look at, but only in consultation with the NATO allies. He also said that while gen. McNeil has requested 3 additional brigades, the general doesn't expect that request to be fulfilled anytime soon. There is an expectation based on assurances made by President bush at the NATO summit in Bucharest, Hungary that there will be a plussing up of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But Morrell said that the military will have to evaluate that plussing up of forces after the period of evaluation in Iraq after the last surge force brigade combat team is withdrawn. He also said that the Department must strive to meet the renewed limit of 12-month tours and increased time at home for soldiers first. He said that the Secretary of Defense doesn't think more troops in Afghanistan is unnecessary but that the draw down in Iraq must be completed before those additional brigades to Afghanistan will be considered. He also reiterated that the tour of the 3,400 Marines now serving in the Regional Command South will end in a finite way in December and the Department does not expect that tour to be extended beyond the standard 7 months for Marines.

Morell said that he has heard that there will be confirmation hearings on the Hill confirming Gen. David Petraeus as the combatant commander of Central Command later in the month of May. The Senate Armed Services Committee could not confirm that a date has been set for these hearings.

Getting to know the Department of Defense (Again)

By Meredith MacKenzie

I was born on Hahn AFB in Germany during the Cold War. I was baptized by an Air Force chaplain. For most of my life my father has been an F-16 Fighter pilot and my mother the most understanding and enduring of military spouses. All of my father’s friends went by names like “Fuzz,” “Mad Dog,” and “Chairman.” I have waited at an airport many times with that “Welcome Home Daddy!” sign. I understand every phrase from military life from “hurry up and wait” to the alphabet soup of TDY and the SOP and I will never forget the ROE my dad made me sign in order to get my learner’s permit.

As an Air Force brat, I thought that I understood America’s military. I mean, I come from a military family, the military helped pay for my education, my favorite college team (after my alma mater, of course) is the Fighting Falcons. But being on the ground, on base, even my own failed attempt to join AFROTC in college, could not have prepared me for getting to know the Department of Defense all over again.

As the TRNS Pentagon correspondent I had the chance over the last week to travel with the Secretary of Defense to Mexico City, Ft. Bliss, Texas, and the largest Army vehicle depot in the country at Texarkana. It was my first time traveling with a government entourage and I want to tell my fellow citizens that there is no better way to travel. I imagine that only the President or the Secretary of State travel in more style than Secretary Gates.

It was the contrast between our great accommodations (which the journalists themselves pay for) and the convenience of riding in a police escorted motorcade and the drab brown surroundings of Ft. Bliss that stuck out to me. I thought I knew what military life was about-- turns out that I know military life in an officer’s family. My family has never had to live on base, my father has never had a 15-month hardship deployment, and he certainly has never had three of them.



The bulk of America’s military are the enlisted men and women who serve in active duty. Only in the insulated rings of the Pentagon do officers outnumber enlisted. It is the enlisted soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who do the daily work of the military. By and large these are people who have not attended a four-year university. They have families which they began at a young age. They enlist and give control over their lives to an institution. Then they go to Iraq and Afghanistan and then they go back.

There are 34,000 active troops in Afghanistan and 150,000 in Iraq. The new Yankee Stadium could be filled twice with the men and women serving in theater. And this is just one part of the vastness of America’s Defense Department. The sheer size of America’s military/industrial complex is staggering. Considering the $550 billion base operating budget, the 23,000 employee population of the Pentagon and the millions of members of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, as well as their respective Reserves and National Guards; it is not too much of a stretch to believe, as one colonel told us, that the combined territory of White Sands Missile Range, Yuma Proving Grounds and Ft. Bliss is larger than Rhode Island.

We toured a factory in Texarkana that puts out one Humvee every 24 minutes. We met with a colonel responsible for transitioning over 200 wounded soldiers to their homes or new units a month. We witnessed an enlistment ceremony where 45 young people (and they were young) enlisted and another 30 soldiers reenlisted. This ceremony at Ft. Bliss occurs monthly.

Sure everything is bigger in Texas, but these are just numbers from that one post, there are more than 250 U.S. military installations all over the world. Looking at the enormous scope of the nation’s defense it is no wonder that Sec. Gates, whom the Pentagon staff refer to as simply “the Boss,” is a big picture thinker. As the local press in Texas and a class of sergeant majors at Ft. Bliss discovered, Gates is the wrong man to ask about the details of a soldier’s pension or home loans. Gates simply can’t be expected to know all those details.

Over the past few months, in hearings and press conferences about what Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen has called “stress on the force,” I have felt concern about the long and repeated tours of duty. I have wondered what it does to the psyche of the young men of my high school graduating class. I have read carefully Joseph Stiglitz evaluation of a $3 trillion war. But at Ft. Bliss I met a psychologist who gave me a real idea of the cost of this war.

Dr. John E. Fortunato is the resilience and restoration program director in a prototype program at Ft. Bliss. He works with severe cases of post traumatic stress disorder, all of whom want to return to duty. Through an intensive 35 hours a week in therapy, Dr. Fortunato uses alternative medicine, psycho analysis, and biofeedback techniques to help soldiers become fit for duty. He says that it is his job to heal the wound that does not show and help these soldiers deal with the price of killing.

He told us the story of one soldier who had trouble in therapy. They pushed him and intensified therapy until finally he broke down in tears telling the hardest of his stories. What he said to the therapists, represents the real cost of this war. “No one knows,” he gasped through his tears, “No one know the price, the price you pay when you shoot a man so close his blood splashes back on your flack jacket.”

The money for the war comes from American taxpayers and their children, the decisions about funding are made in the air conditioned rooms of Congress, the war is administrated by top brass and career civil servants like Secretary Gates, the cost is estimated at $12 billion a month. But the price of this war is paid by men and women who enlist and serve in the U.S. military.