Foreign Troops Key to Iraq Plans

The Pentagon’s plan for defeating insurgents in Iraq relies heavily on applying “a full-court press” to persuade more countries to send troops to relieve overstretched U.S. forces, senior defense officials said Thursday.

In separate appearances at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States is negotiating with Pakistan, India and Turkey to supply tens of thousands of troops.

Without them, Myers told the Senate Armed Services Committee, the U.S. will not be able to reduce its heavy military presence in Iraq for months, and possibly years, to come.

Referring to the estimated 30,000 troops that other countries have already promised, Myers said: “It needs to be higher than that.”

But Myers acknowledged in response to pointed questions from both Republicans and Democrats that no request has been made to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“We’re just not quite to that point yet,” he said.

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Rumsfeld said that a plan announced by Army officials Wednesday to rotate U.S. troops into and out of Iraq is filled with “unknowables.”

“There are a whole series of unknowables that are buried in there,” Rumsfeld said. “And I think that what will determine what actually happens will be several things. One is the number of international forces that we’re able to bring in. A second will be

The Pentagon has 144,000 troops in Iraq. More than 30,000 support troops are stationed in Kuwait. The effort to rebuild Iraq is costing $3.9 billion a month just for troop salaries and ongoing expenses, according to Pentagon estimates.

Although 15 countries have troops in Iraq now and 19 more have agreed to send military personnel there, most of the nations have promised small numbers. And many of the countries have not committed combat troops. For those that have done so, Myers told senators, the U.S. has promised to provide airlift and logistical support. Myers did not say how much that would cost.

U.S. efforts to win support from more countries got a boost Thursday, when Secretary of State Colin L. Powell met with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Washington.

Emerging from the meeting, Powell told reporters that Turkey is giving “the most active consideration” to a U.S. request that it deploy troops in Iraq. Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, requested troops several days ago during a visit to Turkey. The Turkish press said Abizaid raised the possibility of a Turkish contribution of 10,000 troops.

Gul told reporters Thursday that the Turkish government was viewing the request, and other aspects of its relationship with the United States, “in a positive way.” He said that the involvement of the United Nations and NATO in Iraq would make Turkey’s decision easier.

A senior U.S. official said the administration would like to see Turkish troops deployed in southern Iraq, where they would not face tensions with Iraqi Kurds or the violence that has beset the so-called Sunni triangle of central Iraq.

Myers told senators that the U.S. troops included in the rotation plan would need to be supplemented with reservists, many of whom have been used repeatedly in recent years.

Myers and Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, appeared before the Senate committee on their nominations for second, two-year terms. Senators used the hearing to underscore what they said was the importance of finding a way to relieve the pressure on U.S. forces.

“The internationalization of this force would have consequences of lessening the exposure of our forces,” committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.) said, “although in no way are we trying to cut and run.”

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) told Myers that “an endless deployment is causing a lot of concern” among his constituents.

Myers said that if Turkey or another country does not send a significant force, the Pentagon is considering sending more Marines into Iraq.

Traditionally, significant numbers of Marines have not been asked to engage in peacekeeping.

The Army is shouldering most of the burden in Iraq. Almost all Air Force and Navy personnel left the region weeks ago, and of the Marines, only the 1st Expeditionary Force is still in the country. The Pentagon is scrambling to come up with replacements.

The troop rotation plan announced by the Army on Wednesday relies on foreign troops that have not yet been committed by their governments, on two National Guard combat brigades that have not yet been trained for the mission, on an Army division that just returned from Iraq, and on two new Army brigades that have not been certified by the Pentagon as combat-ready.

Quizzed by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) about why NATO has not been asked to contribute forces since the war began, Myers said the Bush administration has no political or strategic objection to making the request. Several NATO countries staunchly opposed U.S. policy on Iraq.

“I don’t think the particular -- that our perception of how certain countries might react to it would ever stop us from asking that question and working with NATO, if that’s the right thing to do,” Myers said.

“And we’re just not quite to that point yet. But there’s nothing holding us back.

“I’m very bullish in trying to get international forces in,” he said.

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Times staff writer Paul Richter contributed to this report.