Republican Leader Frist Says U.S. Forces Stretched Thin in Iraq [View All]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a4pJKSZglPFw&refer=us

Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist said the U.S. military is struggling to keep up the fight against insurgents who want to disrupt the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq for a new national assembly.

Frist, appearing on NBC's ``Meet the Press,'' declined to say whether he would support extending the current 24-month tours of active duty for reservists and U.S. National Guard members. He said that might hurt recruitment.

``We are straining our Guard and reservist personnel,'' Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said of the part-time force that makes up 40 percent of the 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Republican Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire and Democratic Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware agreed.