Top Army officials have told a Senate panel that the Army is under serious strain and must reduce the legnth of combat tours as soon as possible.

Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of Staff said, "The cumulative effects of the last six-plus years at war have left our Army out of balance."

Casey told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that cutting te soldiers spend in combat is an integral part of reducing the stress on the force. (Last year, Senate Republicans and President Bush sabotaged Democratic attempts to ensure troops as much rest time at home as they spent on their most recent tour overseas.)

Casey's testimony comes a day after a different Pentagon official told reporters that Preisdent Bush plans to keep at least 140,000 American troops in Iraq after his so-called "surge" ends in July.

Meantime, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says the California National Guard is missing half its equipment, leaving the state vulnerable. He wants the Bush Administration to give the equiptment back.

"It's not fair to the states for the federal government to go into a war and then to take from us the equipment," he said after meetings Monday with President Bush and Cabinet officials. "Every time our National Guard leaves, they take with them equipment but they don't bring it back."