Closer to 2/3s actually...
United Press International Security & Terrorism
Senator: Iraq funding, staff crunch looms
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060119-040017-9520r
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., warned Thursday that American funding and personnel shortages could doom efforts to establish stable governments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Reed made his seventh trip to Iraq in early January, venturing out of Baghdad's "green zone" to Mosul, Tall 'Afar and Hillah.
"Based on my trip, I am concerned that we are not prepared for the 'long war' in Iraq ...," Reed stated in a report issued by his office. "If our strategy is 'clear, hold and build,' we are in danger of simply being able to 'clear, hold and wait.' While we wait, our enemies will reorganize and the people of Iraq will reconsider."
The U.S. military is quite clear that while it can fight the insurgency, it will only be ended if the central government in Iraq is able to meet the material and economic needs of the people, as well as offer them a sense of physical security.
But U.S. assistance to Iraq on the non-military front may be inadequate in coming months, Reed warned. As the U.S. military presence draws down, it is being replaced by an undermanned force of State Department personnel serving on multi-agency reconstruction teams which are short of both cash and people.
"The (Bush) administration needs to commit to robust reconstruction funding in Iraq and Afghanistan. Everyone we spoke to in both countries expressed their concern about the continuation of adequate funding," Reed stated. "I find it difficult to believe that additional resources will not be necessary to make sure that we succeed. Yet, proposals are being considered to terminate this funding."
Moreover, the military is shrinking the number of uniformed civil affairs and reconstruction experts it has dispersed throughout the country.
"There are presently 876 soldiers trained in civil affairs serving in Iraq, but the next rotation only includes 325 civil affairs personnel plus an air defense artillery battalion which will receive brief civil affairs training," Reed stated.
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