New York: The new Iraq strategy could fail unless more civilian agencies stepped forward to carry outreconstruction and political development plans in that country.

Senior military officers have told US President Bush and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The officers have warned that a military buildup alone cannot solve Iraq'sproblems, and now fear that the military will bear a disproportionate burden if Bush's strategy falls short, the New York Times said in a report today (Feb7,2007).

Among particular complaints, they cited a request from the office of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that military personnel temporarily fill more than one-third of 350 new State Department jobs in Iraq that are to be created underthe new strategy.

"There is a conflict between the military that has ordered hundreds of thousands of troops to Iraqin the last four years, and the Foreign Service that offers incentives for civilians to work in war zones but cannot compel diplomats to accept hardshipassignments in places like Iraq,"the report said.

Under Bush's Iraq strategy,the military is pushing more than 20,000 fresh troops to Baghdadto augment the American military force of about 132,000 already in Iraq.

"The State Department has been ordered to expand the provincialreconstruction teams in Baghdad and western Anbar Province to accelerate political and economic development at the local level," the report said.