By KATHY CASTOR

I oppose President Bush’s escalation of the war in Iraq and his intention to send American troops into the Sunni versus Shiite civil war.

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I heard General James Conway, Commandant of the US Marine Corps, and Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker testify this week that America will run a “strategic risk” by pushing for an escalation.

The generals confirmed that if our personnel and equipment are tied up in Iraq, then our ability to handle future contingencies is reduced. Deploying extra units will force the Army and Marines to draw more of the equipment from units not in combat. This will further reduce the ability of these units to remain ready for missions in Iraq or elsewhere.

The costs of this increase in terms of money, troop and family morale, and degradation of training and equipment is unacceptable.

Altering the deployment schedules for five brigades means altering the already challenging lives of around 20,000 military families. They deserve better treatment from a government that has already asked so much.

The change in Reserve call-up policy could potentially have disastrous second and third order effects on the Reserve Component in terms of recruiting and retention.

Instead of escalation, it is time for a new direction in Iraq. President Bush should begin to move our forces out of Iraq and make the Iraqi political leadership aware that our commitment is not open ended. American troops alone cannot resolve Iraqi sectarian and religious power struggles. Only Iraqis can find the political resolution required to stabilize Iraq.

We must change our mission in Iraq from combat to training, logistics, and force protection, and we must begin the phased redeployment of our forces in the next four to six months out of Iraq. An aggressive new diplomatic effort can invigorate a political solution.

Escalation of the war in Iraq is not what my neighbors in Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties were hoping for. It is not the direction recommended by the Iraq Study Group. It’s not the answer the Generals on the ground expected, either.

Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, is the U.S. representative from District 11.