A Pentagon review of Iraq has come up with three options - sending more troops to Iraq, reducing the force but staying longer or pulling out. The Washington Postquoted senior US defence officials as dubbing the three alternatives "Go big, go long and go home."
The military study was commissioned by Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and comes as political and military leaders struggle with how to conduct a war that is increasingly unpopular, both in the United States and in occupied Iraq.
Pace has said that all options for the Iraq war are on the table. Those would range from significantly boosting the number of troops to withdrawing a substantial portion of those now there.
Last week Gen. John Abizaid, the senior US commander in the Middle East, said the emphasis must be on training and preparing the Iraqis to take control of their own country.
According to senior military officials on Pace's staff, there are 16 military members, largely colonels who have recently served in the Gulf region, who have been meeting daily as part of the Iraq review. Pace has asked the group to look at what is going right or wrong in the military conduct of the entire global war on terror, including particularly the war in Iraq and what options are available to make progress.
There will be no formal report or recommendations to Pace and there is no set timetable for any presentations or ideas, said the officials, who requested anonymity because the deliberations are not public. Pace, they said, will use any thoughts and options coming out of the review to help develop his own recommendations for the defense secretary and the president.
A special advisory commission led by Bush family friend and former Secretary of State James Baker and former US Rep. Lee Hamilton is to issue its report soon, and there has been strong speculation that its members would propose a way ahead for Iraq while making clear the US military mission shouldn't last indefinitely.
The commission is expected to release its findings and recommendations sometime next month.
AP