Perdue visits troops in Iraq

ATLANTA --- Gov. Sonny Perdue is in Iraq spending Veterans Day visiting Georgia soldiers and safeguarding against what he calls deployment fatigue.

The governor flew to Kuwait from Washington on Monday night after calling on Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Georgia natives recovering in Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Mr. Perdue described the soldiers as in good spirits, even those injured.

"All in all, the spirit and morale of our troops is palatable," he said in an overseas call with Georgia reporters. "They feel like they have made a difference."

But he said he expressed concerns to Mr. Gates about the Georgia members of the National Guard who have been assigned to various units in Iraq and Afghanistan since March, disrupting the bonds the members have developed during their monthly exercises in their home units. Currently, 3,000 are in Iraq and 450 are in Afghanistan, all primarily training local soldiers and police.

The governor also told Army generals in Baghdad that he was concerned frequent deployments could be taxing. Georgia's Guard sent 3,200 to Iraq in 2005, suffering 28 fatalities. At the halfway point of the current deployment, nine have been killed, said Guard spokesman Ken Baldowski.

Georgians have been more willing to participate in the Guard than most states, Mr. Perdue said, but that doesn't make them immune to stress.