WASHINGTON, 16 August 2003 — Moving to quash a political firestorm, the Pentagon has denied that it will cut the pay of nearly 160,000 US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by $225 on Sept. 30 when special military pay hikes approved by Congress are due to expire.
Defense officials said that even if lawmakers do not reinstate increases passed in April in both “imminent danger pay” and “family separation allowances,” the Pentagon will make up the pay losses to troops in those countries in other ways.
Undersecretary of Defense David Chu answered sharp criticism from Democratic presidential candidates over a press report that the Pentagon favored cutting the pay of combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan because it supported letting the special increases expire.
“No one ever said we wanted to reduce pay in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Chu, who is in charge of military personnel and readiness, told reporters.
“We prefer other compensation powers to ensure that we target benefits on the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he added, citing incentive and other packages that the Pentagon is authorized to use.
Chu spoke after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Pentagon wanted to cut the pay of nearly 149,000 troops in Iraq and another 9,000 in Afghanistan because it supported the expiration of increases of $75 monthly in danger pay and $150 in family separation pay.
Democrats running to succeed President George W. Bush in next year’s election on Thursday launched a barrage of criticism based on the report.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said it made his “blood boil,” Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut called it “unconscionable” and Sen. Bob Graham of Florida said it was “seriously wrong.”
