Top US commando says strain of war limits forces elsewhere

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 21 minutes ago

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are making such heavy use of the nation's Green Berets and other elite warriors that they cannot fulfill their roles in other parts of the world, the military's top commando told The Associated Press.

"We're going to fewer countries, staying for shorter periods of time, with smaller numbers of people than historically we have done," Adm. Eric T. Olson said Monday in his first interview since becoming commander of U.S. Special Operations Command last July.

Olson, himself a combat veteran, saw little chance that the demand for his special operations forces in Iraq will decline anytime soon. Even as the overall American force there shrinks — from about 158,000 now to about 140,000 by the end of July — the number of special operations forces in the war zone is likely to increase, he said.

More of these specially trained, often secretive forces may be required in Iraq in order to fill a niche role in the development of Iraqi security forces as the number of conventional Army troops goes down, he said.

"Nothing I've been told leads me to believe that there will be a reduction" in special operations forces in Iraq, "and the door is always open for an increase in demand, so we're just trying to prepare for that the best we can," Olson said.

In addition to their role in training Iraqi soldiers and police, U.S. special forces perform small-scale raids, long-range reconnaissance and other secretive operations in search of al-Qaida and other terrorist suspects. They also work quietly with Iraqi tribal leaders to undermine the insurgency.

Olson, a native of Tacoma, Wash., is the first Navy SEAL to lead Special Operations Command.

He spoke for about 30 minutes in an office he uses when visiting the Pentagon; his headquarters is at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. Under his command are the elite forces from each of the military services, including Army Green Berets and Rangers, Navy SEALs and Marine and Air Force commandos.

Olson made it clear he is not seeking a bigger role for special operations forces in Iraq. In fact his forces already are so heavily engaged there and in Afghanistan that they are unable to fully perform their traditional mission in other parts of the world. To illustrate that point, Olson said that when the 7th Special Forces Group, which is based at Fort Bragg, N.C., and whose normal area of focus is Latin America, rotates into Afghanistan for seven-month tours, it takes two of its three battalions, leaving just one in Latin America.

"That leaves us underrepresented" in Latin America, the admiral said.

In Latin America, as in other areas of greatest interest to the Special Operations Command, Green Berets deploy to friendly countries like El Salvador or Colombia to train local military forces.

Special operations units that are designated mainly for use in Africa and Europe, Olson said, also are under strength for their normal role in those regions because they, too, are tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003, about 80 percent of the overseas deployments of special operations forces have been to the Middle East and Afghanistan, Olson said. That compares with 20-25 percent before Sept. 11, 2001.

To deal with that trend, Olson is overseeing a substantial increase in the size of his total force. He is authorized by Congress to add five Army Special Forces battalions as well as three Army Ranger companies as part of a total increase of 13,000 troops over five years, starting this year.

"The reason we're growing is not necessarily to enable us to surge more forces into (Iraq and Afghanistan); it's really to get us back out into the rest of the world where we have been underrepresented" because of the heavy focus on the two-front war, he said.

There are now about 50,000 people in special operations forces. Olson's command has seen its budget jump from $2.3 billion in 2001 to $7.3 billion this year, reflecting a conviction among U.S. leaders that heading off another major attack by al-Qaida requires a broad and long-term effort to not only hunt down and kill terrorist leaders but also to undermine support for extremist ideologies.

Olson said he sees no sign that the strain of several years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan is taking an excessive psychological toll on his forces. The regular Army, on the other hand, has seen a growing number of negative indicators, including a higher suicide rate.

"Our guys are generally older, they're more stable in their lives — married at a higher rate, and a higher percentage of them have kids — and they're better trained in general than most of the (other) forces," he said. "So I don't think the stress on the force affects us in the same way that it does other forces."

Soldier suicides could trump war tolls: US health official

Mon May 5, 1:11 PM ET

Suicides and "psychological mortality" among US soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan could exceed battlefield deaths if their mental scars are left untreated, the head of the US Institute of Mental Health warned Monday.

Of the 1.6 million US soldiers who have been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, 18-20 percent -- or around 300,000 -- show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or both, said Thomas Insel, head of the National Institute of Mental Health.

An estimated 70 percent of those at-risk soldiers do not seek help from the Department of Defense or the Veterans Administration, he told a news conference launching the American Psychiatric Association's 161st annual meeting here.

If "one just does the math", then allowing PTSD or depression to go untreated in such numbers could result in "suicides and psychological mortality trumping combat deaths" in Iraq and Afghanistan, Insel warned.

More than 4,000 US soldiers have died in Iraq since the US invasion of 2003, and more than 400 in Afghanistan since the US led attacks there in 2001, of which some 290 were killed in action and the rest in on-combat deaths.

"It's predicted that most soldiers -- 70 percent -- will not seek treatment through the DoD or VA," Insel said at the meeting, at which the psychological impact of war is expected to top the agenda over the next four days.

Left untreated, PTSD and depression can lead to substance abuse, alcoholism or other life-threatening behaviors.

"It's a gathering storm for the civilian and public health care sectors," Insel said.

He urged public-sector mental health caregivers to recognize the symptoms of psychological troubles resulting from deployment to a war zone and be ready to provide adequate care for both soldiers and their families.

Other items on the agenda at the meeting, set to be attended by some 19,000 psychiatrists and mental health practitioners from around the world, include violence in schools, the psychology of extremism, and more light-hearted topics such as how music affects mood.

Obama takes early lead in Guam caucuses

Four pledged delegates at stake; voting may swing superdelegates too

The Associated Press
updated 12:21 p.m. ET, Sat., May. 3, 2008

HAGATNA, Guam - The early count from Democratic presidential caucuses on Guam showed Barack Obama delegates ahead with 395 votes to 320 for those pledged to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

More than 3,000 votes were expected in heavy turnout at caucuses in the U.S. territory, where neither candidate campaigned.

Four pledged delegate votes were at stake on the island 8,000 miles from Washington. Guam also has five superdelegates and some of those are being determined in the caucus voting as well.

Slow ballot-by-ballot counting was under way in the territorial legislative building after votes were hand carried from some 20 caucus sites.

Long lines of voters were reported in schools, community centers and other caucus sites that were open for voting all day Saturday.

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*** No presidential vote *** (!!!) ????

U.S. citizens in Guam have no vote in the November presidential election, but the close Clinton-Obama race is giving them an unaccustomed role in the nomination process.
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Voters picked eight pledged delegates who will have only one-half vote each at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.

Presidential caucuses on Guam usually pass without much notice from the candidates.

This time, Obama and Clinton made their case for the territory's four regular delegates with local advertising and long-distance interviews.

Lines formed early at some caucus sites.

Cynthia Estrada of Dedeo said she was making up her mind while waiting to vote, but she was leaning toward Clinton.

"She's had the experience," she said. "She's got her husband to help her."

Yona resident Tommy Shimizu said he was voting for Obama delegates.

"It's the fact that he grew up in Hawaii, and I think he can make change," he said. "I think it's time for that."

Candidates bought advertising
Clinton and Obama pitched improved health care and economic opportunity as they courted Guam voters from across the international date line.

Both candidates bought local advertising and conducted media interviews. In their protracted race for the nomination, no contest is being ignored.

Both Clinton and Obama say they've got the better health plan for Guamanians.

Obama said in an interview with Pacific Daily News that he would support reexamination of a $5.4 million Medicaid spending limit imposed on the territory. Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, told KUAM radio earlier that his wife would work to remove the cap.

Hillary Clinton also has called for Guamanians to be able to vote in presidential elections.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24441932/

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Opponents carry injured home-run hitter around bases
Associated Press

Updated: April 30, 2008, 7:40 PM EST

With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the center-field fence.

But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single.

Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count - an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs.

Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky.

The umpire said there was no rule against it.