Sen. Norm Coleman complained in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday about the extension of the Minnesota-based 1st Brigade Combat Team tour in Iraq by up to 125 days.
"I am extremely disappointed to hear that the president's decision to implement a troop surge in Baghdad will have a major, negative impact on the Minnesota National Guard," wrote Coleman, a Minnesota Republican who opposes Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq.
Coleman said he met with members of the combat team during a visit to Iraq last month, and "they told me how excited they were to see their families, to return to their employers, and to rejoin their communities at the end of their scheduled deployment in March. They deserve better than to find out just two short months before their planned return that their tours will be extended ..."
Coleman also criticized the "insensitive manner" in which the extension was announced.
"To find out that their soldier's stay has been extended is heartbreaking. To find out by watching the news on TV is completely unacceptable. Your office appears to have omitted the very basic step of giving the Minnesota National Guard advance notification so they could be prepared to help these families."
A Defense Department spokeswoman declined to comment, saying that Gates' office will respond directly to Coleman.
Also Thursday, Coleman declined to say how he would vote on a motion Democrats might offer expressing disapproval of Bush's decision to send more troops to Iraq.
"At this point, I haven't seen any motion," he said on a conference call with reporters. "I won't express an opinion on a resolution I may or may not see."
He did say, though, that if the motion calls for cutting off funding for troops, he would oppose it.
By Frederic J. Frommer, Associated Press Writer
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
