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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (42060)	4/9/2004 11:05:53 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Desparetly not wanting any talk of a draft prior to the election, the Bush Admin wants no discussion of the troop situation. Letter Tells Soldiers Their Tour May Extend THOM SHANKER WASHINGTON, April 9 — The commanding general of the First Armored Division warned in a letter to troops deployed for the past year in and around Baghdad that some of them might be required to stay in Iraq for an additional 90 days instead of leaving this month for their bases in Germany. "Dozens of our fellow soldiers have died and hundreds more have been wounded to ensure that those with the best ideas, not those with the most guns, lead Iraq into the future," wrote Maj. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey in a letter dated April 8. "We are being called to finish the fight," he added. A copy of the letter was supplied Friday by a senior Pentagon official, who said that a decision on how many First Armored Division soldiers would have their tour in Iraq extended is expected in coming days. The official and a senior military officer who had been briefed on planning for troop levels in Iraq said it was unlikely that the entire division would serve a prolonged deployment. Soldiers from the First Cavalry Division, set to replace troops of the First Armored, are entering Iraq already. But General Dempsey wrote that the surge in violence this week "jeopardizes all that we've worked for in the past year," and may require some of the troops to remain in Iraq beyond their scheduled departure. "I know you are eager to get home," he wrote. "I am, too. But not if it means allowing one thug to replace another. We've worked too hard here to watch that happen." In the letter, General Dempsey asks the troops to "thank your families for me. I know they will remain strong with us." nytimes.com lurqer