五角大楼认为美国战士在伊拉克将服务15个月，并且阿富汗而不是一年，显示张力的更多标志战争承担了军事。

在星期三“我们的力量被舒展，那里是关于那的没有问题”，罗伯特门，国防部长，说。

他说移动在总统命令的伊拉克将允许军事承受一年增加的队伍水平于1月。

评论家言决定是吹动对军事、队伍和他们的家庭。

Ike Skelton, a Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, said: “This new policy will be an additional burden to an already overstretched army.

Negative impact

“I think this will have a chilling effect on recruiting, retention and readiness. We also must not underestimate the enormous negative impact this will have on army families.”

Gates admitted that “this decision will ask a lot of our army troops and their families”.

The policy is effective immediately and also applies to units already in the region, he said.

There are about 145,000 US troops in Iraq and 25,000 in Afghanistan.

As part of George Bush’s plan, the military is the midst of boosting its Iraq force by 28,000 combat and support troops.

The Pentagon’s goal for active duty army troops is that they spend two years at home for every year deployed, but it has not been able to meet that target in recent years.

At the moment, army units average about a year at home for every year deployed, Pentagon officials say.

In an effort to tackle the strains on the military, Gates has ordered an increase in the size of both the army and the Marine Corps.

Agencies

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