US: Several developments have contributed to a growing perception in the US that the American military is facing a growing internal crisis over the war in Iraq.
The Pentagon has ordered a retired army general to go to Iraq next week to carry out an extraordinary "open-ended" review of the military's entire Iraq policy. Army officials have also said they are considering asking Congress to make permanent a temporary increase of 30,000 soldiers to meet global commitments.
The over-stretched US army is also planning a policy change to require national guard and reserve soldiers to serve more time than they signed up for.
On top of that, the officer in charge of the US army reserve of 200,000, Gen James Helmly, said in a leaked memo this week that his force was "dysfunctional" and "broken" because of a decline in recruitment and equipment.
The sending of Gen Gary Luck, a senior adviser to the military's Joint Forces Command, to Iraq to carry out a review points to the acute concern in Washington about the war and the rate of US casualties - nine soldiers were killed on Wednesday alone. His orders are to assess the conduct and direction of the conflict and the implications for the armed forces, according to reports from the Pentagon.
Gen Luck will also focus on how to train Iraqi soldiers and police officers to replace American troops. US officers have expressed disappointment in what a Pentagon spokesman described as the "sub-optimal" performance of many Iraqi forces.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has reportedly instructed Gen Luck to examine all areas of the operation and identify weaknesses. The number of American military personnel in Iraq has risen to 150,000 in the run-up to the election and some military planners believe this level may have to be sustained for years.
The current overall US army strength is 482,000 and the Pentagon only recently got the go-ahead to increase this by 30,000 at an estimated cost of $3 billion a year. The decision to change mobilisation policy for the part-time national guard and reserve could stir resentment at what many will see as a "back-door draft". Currently the maximum call-up time for active service is two years but the change would mean serving multiple periods of two years. Currently 160,000 guard and reserve are on active duty out of a combined total of 550,000. President George Bush said yesterday that 14 of the 18 provinces in Iraq "appear to be relatively calm" and that the January 30th elections would go ahead. He said he wanted everybody to vote.