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Original Source: LOU DOBBS TONIGHT
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Tonight, the Pentagon says active duty soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan must now serve 15-month combat tours instead of 12. This, the clearest indication so far that our Army is struggling to find sufficient troops to fight these wars.
We'll have complete coverage for you.
Also tonight, confusion and skepticism over a White House proposal to appoint a so-called war czar. Is the Bush administration acknowledging it must improve management of these wars?
We'll have a live report for you from the White House.
And prosecutors dropping sexual assault charges against three former Duke University lacrosse players. Were those athletes victims of an out-of-control prosecutor? What should be done now?
We'll examine the legal, ethical issues.
We'll have all of the day's news and a great deal more straight ahead here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, news, debate and opinion for Wednesday, April 11th.
Live in New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates today said active duty Army units will serve an additional three months in combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Secretary Gates insisted the announcement does not mean our Army is broken.
Meanwhile, the White House is under fire for suggesting this country needs a war czar to manage the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are reports at least three former generals have already refused to be considered for that job.
Jamie McIntyre tonight reports on the Army's decision to extend combat tours.
Ed Henry reports from the White House on the Bush administration's struggle to explain its war czar proposal.
And Barbara Star reports on new evidence that Iran and Syria are helping insurgents kill our troops in Iraq.
We turn first to Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, the so-called long war just got longer for about 125,000 American soldiers now in combat, as well as an equal number of troops who will replace them in the months ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice over): The enduring wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now requiring even more sacrifice by active duty American soldiers. The Pentagon has approved a plan to increase the standard tour of duty for the active Army in both combat zones from 12 months to 15. Without that plan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates would be forced to deploy five brigades to Iraq early and extend other brigades on short notice in the coming months.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I strongly believe that we owe our troops as much advanced notice as possible and clarity on what they and their families can expect. In other words, predictability.
MCINTYRE: The three-month extension applies to all active duty Army soldiers deployed in the U.S. Central Command area. That includes over 100,000 Army soldiers of the 145,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq, and about 20,000 soldiers of the 47,000 NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
While the active duty troops will deploy for 15 months, they would get 12 months at home. Guard and Reserve troops would still serve a year on and get five years at home, as Secretary Robert Gates promised back in January. And most Marines whose deployments are tied to Navy ship movements will still serve seven-month tours with a six- month break.
The Army says the extensions were the best way to provide the 20 combat brigades U.S. commanders say are needed to maintain the Baghdad security plan known as the surge for at least a year.
GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: This decision today does not predict when this surge will end. What it does is it allows us to provide to the nation, if needed, the amount of force that's currently deployed for a sustained period of time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: The move drew a predictably partisan response from Democrats on Capitol Hill. House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton called it "an additional burden to an already overstretched Army." His counterpart in the Senate, Carl Levin, called it the foreseeable consequence of a flawed strategy -- Lou.
DOBBS: Jamie, thank you.
Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon. The White House tonight is struggling to defend a proposal to create a war czar to manage the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration has reportedly asked at least three former top generals to consider the job, but all three generals have apparently declined the job.
Ed Henry reports now from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After nearly six years of war in Afghanistan and four years after declaring "mission accomplished" in Iraq, it's come to this: help wanted at the White House, someone to fill the potential new post of war czar, leaving Democrats to mock the job search.
REP. RAHM EMANUEL (D), ILLINOIS: There is a position called the war czar. It's called the commander in chief. We're long on P.R., long on slogans, and short on a policy.
They don't need a war czar. They need a policy for success in Iraq.
HENRY: White House spokeswoman Dana Perino scoffed.
DANA PERINO, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's really interesting coming from somebody who works with 217 other members of Congress who think that they are commanders in chief. The president is the commander in chief. He has put -- has had no trouble attracting very high-caliber talent to positions across the administration, even late in the administration.
HENRY: Democrats believe such a move now may be too little, too late for an administration initially credited with having a remarkable national security team.
KURT CAMPBELL, FMR. CLINTON PENTAGON OFFICIAL: Now, six or seven years later, what's clear is you look across sort of the diamond, and there on the bench it's just open pine.
HENRY: "The Washington Post" reports at least three retired generals have turned the job down, but the White House downplayed it all as only a potential restructuring of the National Security Council to improve the chances of victory in both wars.
PERINO: I have to stress to you that no decisions have been made, no one has been offered the job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now, Defense Secretary Robert Gates today said this is really not a big deal, that essentially the czar would do what Stephen Hadley would do if he had the time. While the national security adviser is obviously busy, Democrats already wondering why it took the White House so long to admit that they needed some help -- Lou.
DOBBS: Ed, I have to ask you a couple of questions in following your report.
Carrying out the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is -- Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser, does not have time for those wars?
HENRY: Well, he has the time. I think what Defense Secretary Robert Gates was trying to say is that they are obviously sapping a lot of his time, and when you add on the situation in Iran, the situation in North Korea, across the board all around the world, that his plate is more than full.
But still, that obviously raises the question, why didn't the White House see in that earlier? These problems have obviously been ongoing. The wars have been ongoing for several years now -- Lou.
DOBBS: Yes, they have. Five years -- better than five year years. And Afghanistan, better than four years. In Iraq, over 3,000 Americans dead, more than 24,000 wounded.
What does Secretary Gates do if he is not the war czar?
HENRY: Well, that is also an interesting question, because...
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