Pentagon issues rules for strategy after a war abroad

WASHINGTON -- A broad Pentagon directive issued this week orders the military to be sure, the next time it goes to war, to prepare more thoroughly for a strategy after the conflict.

More than a year in the making, the directive represents an attempt to bring about a widening in what US troops are trained and equipped to do.

Under the new order, US forces must now give postconflict stability operations similar priority, which means they must be ready to carry out such tasks as developing political institutions, establishing judicial systems, and reviving economic activities.

''Stability operations are a core US military mission that the Department of Defense shall be prepared to conduct and support," the directive says. ''They shall be given priority comparable to combat operations and be explicitly addressed and integrated across all" Pentagon activities.

The revised policy followed criticism that the Pentagon did not plan sufficiently for the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq invasion.

Not only did conditions in the country turn out worse than anticipated, but early Pentagon hopes of being able to hand off a large share of responsibility to US and foreign civilian organizations and to Iraqis proved overly optimistic.

As a result, the US military in Iraq has had difficult adjustments in getting the skills, equipment, and troops to ensure security and begin rebuilding the country. The difficult experience has driven home the lesson that US forces cannot always depend on others to step forward and help manage stability tasks.

The 11-page directive, signed Monday by acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England, assigns long lists of specific responsibilities to the Pentagon's various civilian branches, military services, and regional commands.

For instance, it instructs the Pentagon's undersecretary for personnel to develop methods for recruiting people for stability operations and to bolster instruction in foreign languages and cultures. It orders the undersecretary for intelligence to ensure that ''suitable" information for stability operations is available. And it directs the undersecretary for policy to create a ''stability operations center" and submit a semiannual report to the secretary of defense.