Pentagon Reviewing Three Plans For Iraq

The debate over what to do about the war on Iraq - complete with catch phrases to describe each plan - has intensified, with word of a secret report on the issue, commissioned by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In Geneva Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan added his voice to the discussion, urging the U.S. to carefully consider when would be the best time to pull out of the country so that the withdrawal does not lead to a further deterioration of security.

"The United States, in a way, is trapped in Iraq," said Annan. "It cannot stay and it cannot leave. There are those who maintain that its presence is a problem and there are those who say that if it leaves precipitously, the situation will get worse."

Monday, four approaches to the Iraq war were dubbed "Go Big," "Go Long," "Go Home," and "Go Iraqi."

The Washington Post says the first three options are reviewed in a secret report commissioned by Pace: put more troops in Iraq; withdraw some troops but maintain a U.S. military presence for a longer than anticipated period of time; or, pull out all U.S. troops.

Questions would remain for U.S. strategy in Iraq even if troop strength is increased, says retired Army Col. Mitch Mitchell, a military analyst for CBS' Up To The Minute.

"What are they going to be used for? Is this an arbitrary number or is there a real mission for them? How will that mission contribute to the overall mission in Iraq of ending the war?" says Mitchell. "I wonder, if all that has been thought through, or, whether these statements are capricious and arbitrary."

A fourth option - "Go Iraqi" - was proposed Monday by the outgoing chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Duncan Hunter (GOP, Calif.), in a letter sent to President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"We have 114 battalions of Iraqi soldiers - trained and equipped," said Hunter, who is considering running for president. "They are spread out throughout the country; roughly nine of the 18 provinces have very little action. In fact, fewer than one attack a day in those nine provinces - half the country. In those nine provinces are 27 Iraqi batallions. Those Iraqi battalions could be sent in to the contested areas in Baghdad and should be sent. The best way to mature a military force is through operations."

"This is a time to test the leadership of Iraqi battalions," Hunter continued. "We could now right now saddle those forces up and send them into the contentious areas... that would stand them up as an operational military force."

Much of the debate in Washington is focusing on the alternatives reportedly discussed in the study commissioned by Pace.

"The 'Go Long' approach is one that can work if there is sufficient strategic patience, resources appropriated and [if] leadership executes effectively," a military intelligence official told the Washington Post.

The "Go Big" and "Go Home" options look more like straw men, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. "Go Big" is a massive buildup to crush the insurgency. That is considered militarily and politically impractical. And "Go Home" considers a relatively quick withdrawal, which most experts believe would end any chance of saving Iraq.

According to Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, the Pentagon is fixated on one option: "Increase now, decrease later."

The military could increase its presence in Iraq by 25,000 or 30,000 in the short term, O'Hanlon told CBS News. "You ramp up in 2007 and then ramp it down to below 100,000 to maybe 60,000 or 70,000 in 2008, but we cannot go higher. We don't have a big enough military."

Sen. John McCain, a 2008 presidential hopeful and Vietnam War veteran, is among those advocating an increase of U.S. troops in Iraq. The Arizona Republican is calling for 20,000 more troops to be sent to Iraq in addition to the roughly 140,000 there now.

McCain said the soldiers who are in Iraq now are "fighting and dying for a failed policy."

"I believe the consequences of failure are catastrophic," said McCain. "It will spread to the region. You will see Iran more emboldened. Eventually, you could see Iran pose a greater threat to the state of Israel."

McCain said the U.S. must send an overwhelming number of troops to stabilize Iraq or face more attacks, both in the region and possibly on American soil.

"The consequences of failure are so severe that I will exhaust every possibility to try to fix this situation. Because it's not the end when American troops leave. The battleground shifts, and we'll be fighting them again," McCain said. "You read Zarqawi [the late leader of al Qaeda in Iraq], and you read [Osama] bin Laden... It's not just Iraq that they're interested in. It's the region, and then us."

President Bush says he is awaiting recommendations from the military before making a decision on the next step for Iraq.

"I haven't made any decisions about troop increases or troop decreases, and won't until I hear from a variety of sources," President Bush said Monday as he visited Indonesia.

Mr. Bush spoke a day after a bleak assessment on the Iraq war was offered by Henry Kissinger, the former Secretary of State who was heavily involved with U.S. policy on Vietnam.

Kissinger, who now runs a private consulting firm, says the U.S. should enter into dialogue with Iraq's neighbors - including Iran — to make progress in the region.

"If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi Government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," said Kissinger, in a BBC interview.

Several Democrats are arguing for a phased withdrawal of American forces.

Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says troop withdrawals should begin within four to six months.

Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama is also calling for a "gradual and substantial" withdrawal of soldiers from Iraq.

"I believe that it remains possible to salvage an acceptable outcome to this long and misguided war," says Obama, another potential candidate for president. "But it will not be easy. For the fact is that there are no good options left in this war."

In an interview Sunday on NBC's "Today Show," Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden, the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says the United States should "begin to let the Iraqi leadership know we're not going to be staying."

"Over the next four months, let them know we're going to start to phase out, force them to have to address the central issue. That is not 'How to stand up Iraqis,' but 'How to get Iraqis to stand together,'" said Biden. "The idea that we're going to have 140,000 troops in Iraq this time next year is just not reasonable."

Also Sunday, Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York proposed a military draft, which the administration has repeatedly said it does not need.

Speaking on CBS' Face The Nation, Rangel, the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said "this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way."

Monday, House Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., responded to Rangel's comments.

"Mr. Rangel is a strong voice for social justice," incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Monday, adding that Rangel is making "a point about this war, that it has not involved any shared sacrifices."

Rangel says he will introduce a bill next year requiring Americans to sign up for a new military draft after turning 18. He has said the all volunteer military disproportionately puts the burden of war on minorities and lower-income families.

Asked whether the bill will come to the House floor, soon-to-be House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said: "The Speaker and I have discussed scheduling and it did not include this."