Pentagon says needs equipment funds but Army ready

WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the top US general today said the Pentagon needed more funds to repair and replace equipment, but dismissed suggestions the Army was not ready for combat.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen Peter Pace, said results from a readiness reporting system showing two-thirds of the Army was not combat ready were accurate.

But he said the ''pure math'' used by the reporting system painted an inaccurate picture. According to Pace and Rumsfeld, while most of the Army's units may be classified as not ready, they are better equipped today than in 2001.

''The capacity of the Army to wage war is significantly greater than it was even though the reporting system probably utilized is highlighting places where we need to put more money,'' Pace told lawmakers at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

But Democratic Sen Jack Reed of Rhode Island said the reporting system was an accurate indicator of the availability of equipment needed by forces to conduct operations, and that ''readiness'' was not a subjective determination.

''I am particularly incensed with some of the suggestions that this is all just kind of some subjective evaluation we do and the readiness reporting has no real impact in the world, and also the suggestion that if we talked about readiness, particularly once in a crisis like this, we're somehow giving unfair advantage to our adversaries,'' Reed said.

Long deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a toll on equipment and Democrats, ahead of November's elections, have blamed the Bush administration for insufficient funding.

The National Guard's chief this week said his force needs 21 billion dollars to meet basic equipment needs. The Army said it needs 17.1 billion dollars for fiscal 2007 and the Marine Corps faces an 11.8 billion dollars bill to replace or repair equipment over four to five years.

Democrats planned to push for about 10 billion dollars in emergency equipment funds, but Republicans beat them to it, advancing legislation providing 13.1 billion dollars for emergency repairs and replacement of Army and Marine Corps equipment. The bill was unanimously approved by the Senate on Tuesday.

''We do need more money. I am not disputing that,'' Pace said, in response to Reed's questioning.

The official combat readiness status of individual units is classified. But an Army official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said all units in Iraq were combat ready.

REUTERS VJ RK0318