US generals - Iraq hurt ability to fight elsewhere

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) The United States' ability to take on a new fight has been hurt by its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the top military officials for the US Army and Marine Corps told Congress today.

''I cannot say that I'm comfortable,'' Gen. James Conway, commandant of the US Marine Corps, told a congressional panel.

''I will talk somewhat around it because we're in open session but suffice it to say we have examined other war plans and our capability to respond to those plans and we see that we are lacking in some areas in our ability to do so,'' he said.

The Army's chief of staff, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, also said he had ''continued concerns about the strategic depth'' of the Army. He said he was particularly concerned about the ability of soldiers not deployed in Iraq to respond to a new conflict.

Those comments ran counter to repeated statements by senior defense officials that the United States remained ready, despite long and extended deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan, to fight on another front.

President George W Bush's plan to send another 21,500 US troops to Iraq will put further strain on the Army, Schoomaker said.

''Obviously, it puts continued pressure, increased pressure upon the nondeployed forces,'' he told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

REUTERS SY ND2254