Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state and former chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday that the Army was "about broken" and that he saw nothing to justify an increase in troops in Iraq.

The position of the Joints Chiefs is consistent with their strong concern that the Soviet Union would be in a better position to move ahead over the short run with the development of anti-missile defensive systems if treaty restraints are loosened, according to Administration officials.

He displayed his political skill in January 1976, when he surreptitiously secured support from the Joints Chiefs of Staff and undermined Secretary of State Kissinger's efforts to reach agreement with the Soviets on the SALT II arms control treaty.

He also served multiple assignments with the Joints Chiefs of Staff and Army staff at the Pentagon.

The Joints Chiefs completed their first assessment of the current military balance this summer.

"They got a lucky shot today, and they brought down the Predator," Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, said during a Pentagon news briefing.

Responding today in Chicago, Mr. Clinton said he had been straightforward on the draft matter, and cited an endorsement last weekend by Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., the retired head of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, as evidence that the issue should now be forgotten.

Adopting new defence policy in 1974, the Joint Strategic Forces Command was established under Joints Chiefs and the combat training began with the Pakistan Army.

Gen. Colin L. Powell, the Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, said today that there were now about 24,000 American troops in Panama.