Abizaid to leave Iraq post in March

WASHINGTON — Army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, has submitted plans to retire and will leave his post in March — a step likely to make way for a change in military strategy at a time the Bush administration is seeking a new plan for Iraq.

Abizaid has been the primary architect of U.S. military strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan since becoming head of the U.S. Central Command more than three years ago. He has strenuously resisted calls to increase troop levels to quell rising violence in Baghdad, arguing that it would increase Iraqi dependence on Americans.

But a growing number of current and former officers have embraced the idea, some of whom have briefed President Bush as part of his monthlong review of Iraq policy, and the White House is believed to be seriously considering the move.

"If you're going to change the strategy, in fairness to [Abizaid], let him go," said a former senior Pentagon official who has worked closely with Abizaid. "He's given it all he's got, in terms of personal sacrifice."

Cost of Iraq war: $2 billion a week

WASHINGTON — U.S. costs for the Iraq war will exceed $110 billion this fiscal year, approaching the record reached in the prior fiscal year, a top White House official said Tuesday.

That amounts to more than $2 billion a week spent on the war.

The White House previously had penciled in an estimate of $110 billion for Iraq war costs in the 2007 fiscal year.

"That number will end up being low," said White House budget director Rob Portman, who also told reporters that strong revenue growth would help bring down the overall U.S. budget deficit, offsetting some of the spending on Iraq.

Iraq war spending hit an all-time high of $120 billion in fiscal year 2006 that ended Sept. 30. Some media reports have said the war costs for 2007 could total around $170 billion.

Nearly four years into the Iraq war, Bush has maintained a practice of using emergency-spending bills to finance the costs of the war.

Democrats, who are set to take over Congress in January, have pressed the administration to put the war costs into the regular budget. Congress already has appropriated $70 billion for Iraq alone for the current fiscal year.

Suicides up again among troops in Iraq

WASHINGTON — Suicides among soldiers sent to Iraq swung back up last year after a decline, and Army officials said Tuesday it was difficult to interpret the development.

Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army surgeon general, said suicides climbed to a rate of 19.9 per 100,000 in 2005, just above the 18.8 rate of 2003. It had fallen to 10.5 in 2004.

The actual number of suicides in Iraq were 25 soldiers in 2003, 12 in 2004 and 22 in 2005.

The mental-health survey was taken a year ago but made public Tuesday.

Kiley said it is difficult to interpret the change because wide variations are typical in statistics when such small numbers are involved.

The main reasons for the suicides were relationship problems, legal problems and problems with other soldiers, according to the survey.

The rate of suicide was higher for troops in Iraq than for soldiers not deployed to the war: 19.9 per 100,000 compared to 13 per 100,000 for the overall Army. Kiley noted that those in Iraq are carrying weapons, whereas troops at home with problems may resort to alcohol or something less lethal.

Other findings in the report:

• Troops involved in training Iraqi security forces reported higher morale than those serving on combat teams, partly because they felt their work was part of the solution in Iraq.

• 13.6 percent of soldiers reported acute stress symptoms such as nightmares or reliving an incident, and 16.5 percent reported a combination of depression, anxiety and acute stress.

• Troops sent a second time to Iraq reported greater stress rates than first-timers. Some 12 percent serving their initial deployment reported acute stress, compared to 18.4 percent of those serving a repeat deployment.

Seattle Times news services