Issa Favors Longer U.S. Soldier Tours, But Says Iraqis Must Step Up

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published April 11, 2007 at 1:06 PM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

The Defense Secretary says all active-duty Army soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will serve 15-month tours -- three months longer than the usual standard. San Diego Congressman Darrell Issa supports t

The Defense Secretary says all active-duty Army soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will serve 15-month tours -- three months longer than the usual standard. San Diego Congressman Darrell Issa supports the change. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

The Vista Republican says the extended tour makes for smoother transitions when troops are replaced.

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Issa : But when you look at combat troops on the ground -- special forces and others -- a continuity actually makes them more effective. Well, in fact, if they go back less often, that would be better.

Issa says Congress should not set a timetable to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.

Issa : We need to be in fact, getting to a point where the Iraqis and the Afghans, are doing more for themselves. The Iraqi Army has not yet begun to do the kind of job that they should do, could do and must be encouraged to do.

In Afghanistan, Issa says NATO forces need to step up to reinforce and replace U.S. troops.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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