Sen. Clinton unveils bill to boost Army strength

WASHINGTON -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton stood between the former heads of the US Military Academy at West Point and the Army War College yesterday and unveiled legislation that would add 100,000 soldiers to the Army, declaring that it should be a ''national priority" to field a significantly larger military.

Iraq war's demands pose serious problems for future readiness. A20.

The United States Army Relief Act, the brainchild of Clinton and her conservative Democratic colleague, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, is likely to receive serious consideration at a time the Army's 500,000 active-duty soldiers struggle in Iraq and across the globe.

The proposal also marked a culmination of Clinton's efforts to become one of her party's most vocal defenders of the military, along with Lieberman and Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the bill's third sponsor. Although still considered among the Senate's most liberal members, Clinton two years ago sought a perch on the Armed Services Committee, which she has sometimes used to criticize President Bush from the right on military matters.

''There is increasing recognition by the Department of Defense that they are going to have to increase the end-strength of the Army," Clinton said yesterday. ''We are hopeful we will find some receptive minds on the other side of the aisle and in the administration."

The bill, which is also being proposed in the House by Democrats Ellen Tauscher of California and Mark Udall of Colorado, would help the Army reduce the number of deployments each soldier must make and take some pressure off the Reserve and National Guard, Clinton and other backers say. It would cost an estimated $12 billion.

Clinton, who continues to support the Iraq war, has achieved a level of respect among the top brass that her husband never enjoyed as president. The Pentagon appointed her this year to an elite group of advisers on military transformation.

She has pushed hard for higher pay and better equipment for troops and visited troops in Iraq and Afghanistan twice. Her staff peppers the Pentagon with requests for information about troop salaries and healthcare. She bucked most of her Democratic colleagues last year and backed new spending for a ''missile shield," the latest version of former President Reagan's strategic defense initiative.

''She is building a record that looks to many as if she is a Republican and not a Democrat on the issues of war and peace," said Stuart Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report in Washington.

Other analysts noted that Clinton, who is the only sponsor of the Army bill believed to have presidential ambitions, stands to benefit from the perception that she is strong on military issues. Some analysts say she learned from the campaign of last year's Democratic presidential nominee, Senator John F. Kerry, that what counts in national politics is not one's personal service, but support for defense spending.

Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Poll in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., put it this way: ''Her position on the [Armed Services] Committee has put her front and center on a lot of the international policy debates. I think that was a deliberate effort on her part to plug up what would be seen as a potential vulnerability."

But some predict her positions could hurt her in a Democratic primary. ''Her base doesn't like the war. Her base doesn't like the Pentagon. Her base doesn't like the military," said Frank Luntz, a GOP pollster. ''In a primary, true believers have more power than political pragmatists."

Indeed, Clinton has earned praise from many of her former critics for being a quick study on complex defense matters and for her penetrating questions at military hearings. Clinton usually criticizes the administration in measured tones. At a rancorous hearing last month, she defended opponents of the Iraq war and even got an agreeing nod from Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.

''I would not in any way question the resolve, the toughness, the patriotism of anybody who raises legitimate questions and has disagreements about how we are to pursue our objectives," she said. ''And with due respect, I think it would be helpful if we would hear a little bit more of that tone from our president and from our vice president and from our other high-ranking officials in the administration."

She also co-sponsored a long list of bipartisan defense legislation. The Armed Forces Personnel Medical Readiness and Tracking Act of 2004 was designed to ensure that all active-duty soldiers and reservists receive regular health screenings. The Guard and Reserve Readiness and Retention Act of 2005 offered full health benefits to reservists whether on active duty or not. She has seen to it that injured soldiers continue to receive combat pay while they are recuperating.

And on the most controversial military issue, the Iraq war, she has not wavered in her support for the military operation.

''She understands the weaknesses in the Democratic Party perhaps better than anyone else," said Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow at the centrist Democratic Leadership Council. ''The party will not be taken seriously by the American people unless it believes it will defend them."

Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com.