Military Deployment

With drug-related violence growing along the Mexico border, the U.S. is willing to consider deploying troops to the Southwest -- but only as a last resort -- a Department of Homeland Security official told members of Congress on Thursday. Help might come from the National Guard or even the Army if the deadly threat from Mexico's powerful cartels gets so bad that Homeland Security officials cannot secure border towns, Roger Rufe, the department's director of operations, told a House subcommittee.

Key Democrats on Capitol Hill warned Thursday that a decision by President Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan could trigger an uprising within the party, possibly including an attempt to cut off funds for the buildup. "I believe we need to more narrowly focus our efforts and have a much more achievable and targeted policy in that region," said Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Otherwise, he said, "we run the risk of repeating the mistakes we made in Vietnam and the Russians made in Afghanistan."

Faced with rising violence, U.S. military officials have proposed sending additional troops to Afghanistan this spring in an effort to counter the growing power of Taliban militants. Pentagon officials want to deploy 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan for a standard seven-month stint and would not replace them when they leave. Added to the 27,000 U.S. troops there, the additional Marines would boost the U.S. force to the highest level since the 2001 invasion. The proposal is supported by Adm.

As the most powerful Afghan official in the troubled southern province of Kandahar, Ahmed Wali Karzai says he knows just how to tame the shadowy Taliban campaign of suicide bombs and assassinations that have raised the specter of a country sliding toward anarchy. He wants more American soldiers on the ground.

Hundreds of civilians have died in fierce fighting between rebels and government forces here in Chad's capital, Red Cross officials said Tuesday, as the insurgents agreed to a cease-fire. Rebel leader Mahamat Nouri, leader of the biggest of three rebel groups in a coalition, told BBC radio Tuesday afternoon that the coalition accepted a Libyan-brokered cease-fire. Nouri said he did not think that the government had accepted.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates denied Wednesday that the Bush administration was seeking a treaty with Iraq that would require long-term security commitments forcing future U.S. presidents to continue sending troops. Instead, Gates told lawmakers, a new agreement with Baghdad would give the U.S. military continuing legal authority to operate in Iraq, much like current United Nations resolutions, which expire at the end of the year.

Moving to relieve strain on troops, the Army plans to reduce the length of combat tours from 15 months to one year after the troop buildup in Iraq winds down this summer, top officials told Congress on Tuesday. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said he would trim combat tours once the Pentagon fulfilled plans to reduce the number of Army brigades in Iraq by July. Also Tuesday, the Senate resumed debate on the war, taking up a measure by Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.

By many important measures, the U.S. military has reason to feel better about Iraq. Violence has declined, casualties are down, the president is touting the current strategy and the public's anguish has ebbed. But inside the Pentagon, turmoil over the war has increased. Top levels of the military leadership remain divided over war strategy and the pace of troop cuts. Tension has risen along with concern over the strain of unending cycles of deployments.

Call it the forgotten front. The deployments are long, often tedious, sometimes quite dangerous. The weather is hot, the incremental business of improving infrastructure can be frustrating, and most Americans probably could not find the country on a map. But the U.S. is determined to keep insurgents, homegrown or from neighboring Somalia, from toppling the government of Djibouti or using the country as a launching pad. Marines have been deploying there for a decade, with no end in sight.

President Bush is scheduled to announce today that Army units heading to war after Aug. 1 will serve 12-month tours rather than the current 15-month deployments, senior defense officials said. The reduced tour length will not apply to any soldiers now serving in Iraq, Afghanistan or other war zones, although that could change if security conditions improve, the officials said Wednesday. They spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of Bush's planned speech on the subject.