Pentagon to boost troop strength in Iraq

[kennetha]

By Jim Miklaszewski
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 6:39 p.m. ET Nov. 29, 2004


Faced with the real threat of terrorist attacks during Iraqi elections next month, U.S. military officials tell NBC News the Pentagon is now planning to raise the number of American troops in Iraq by 10,000-11,000 to provide additional security. That's twice the number of needed reinforcements first anticipated and will temporarily raise the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to about 150,000.

....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6613194/



The escalation begins. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. When the elections spawn more chaos, including not just bombings and the like, but massive rejection by the Kurds and the Sunni's who won't be governed by the Shia's more heck will break loose.

[xultar]

1. How pre-tell are they going to do this? n/t

[mrbassman03]

5. Like the Onion said... Mall Security Guards!!!

http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4045&n=1

[xultar]

7. Bagdad, Dawn of the Dead part II. Will they have weapons? n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Just where are the extra troops coming from?

Are they going to move all our troops to Iraq, or start putting everyone who has ever been in the military back in uniform, even if they are 80 years old?

[ninkasi]

3. My suggestion

If we need more troops, now is the perfect time for all the chicken hawks who avoided Viet Nam, but who insisted that we needed to invade Iraq, can enlist now, to prove they aren't worthless cowards.

In addition, all of the mouth-breathers, the college Republicans, the fundies who worship the Chimp and put him right up there with Jesus, all of them can enlist too. Since women are serving and dying there, the Tequila Twins can go as well.

[movonne]

4. Do you feel a draft????

[Earth_First]

14. March 15, 2005

The date set forth by * for the SSS to report that the system is ready and capable to be activated.

SSS recieves $28 million dollar budget increase...
SSS fills 10,350 draft board positions, including 11,070 appeals board positions...

However, it is claimed that this is a cycle that is performed routinely to ensure the vitality of the program. Really? $28 million dollars in budget appropriations routine?

A poll conducted in late 2003 by the Stars and Stripes, a Pentagon funded newspaper, showed that 49% of Reservists and National Guard soldiers plan NOT to reenlist when their contracts expire, I can only imagine that this number has increased. However, with the 'back door draft' already in place, there really isn't much one can do against the "stop loss"

Personally, if I were of draft age, I would make sure that you have your ducks in a row if you are a person of conscious (www.objector.org)

it's comming...

[luaneryder]

12. I've been thinking about that

I don't have hip pocket orders-my IRR time has expired. But, if I got orders, I'll be headed the other direction. I gave them 7+3 and that's all I'm giving until I see the Twins in uniform, toting an M16 (better yet hauling on an M60), walking point.

[rabbit2484]

16. We just had 700 Air National Guard troops leave

They're supposedly only going for 45 days. A brother of my friend will be flying his F-16 over there. My friend is in the same unit, but being a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical weapon responder, he didn't get sent.

Funny, I thought we were there to get NBC weapons.

[bluestateguy]

17. Kamino. The cloning bases

[sonicx]

6. i hope College Republicans are headed to the recruitment offices...

[xultar]

10. I saw a bumper sticker @ Cafepress---Support Bush, ENLIST. n/t

[maddezmom]

8. interesting peice:The Changing Face of the Multinational Coalition in Iraq

~anip~
Based on numbers alone, the coalition for Operation Iraqi Freedom lacks a broad military base. Currently, the United States has deployed approximately 138,000 troops in and around Iraq. Britain, the United States’ closest ally, had only 8,361 troops deployed as of Oct. 4, 2004, more than twice that of any other coalition partner. Italy, South Korea and Poland supply between 2,400 and 3,000 troops each in Iraq, while the Ukraine and the Netherlands have both deployed between 1,000 and 2,000 troops. Twenty-three other countries have offered less than 1,000 troops each, with several nations deploying fewer than 100.



The United States not only supplies the vast majority of troops in Iraq, but has also deployed a higher proportion of its total Armed Forces than any other country. This has forced the U.S. military to deploy Army Reservists and National Guardsmen in order to relieve overburdened regular units. “We are overstretched and, believe it or not, underfunded,” said Col. Bill Taylor, U.S. Army-Ret., a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The displaced Reservists and Guardsmen have not been given the necessary equipment or training made available to regular troops.

~snip~

Stability in Iraq will likely take years to achieve, if it can be fostered at all. It remains unclear whether the member states of the coalition, including the United States, will be able to sustain the domestic political support needed for such an extended commitment. The disproportionate U.S. troop burden will worsen if withdrawal trends persist. American officials would like to “Iraqize” security operations as quickly as possible to relive the burden on American troops. According to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: “Our hope is that as we build up Iraqi forces, we will be able to relieve the stress on our forces and see a reduction in coalition forces over some period of time, probably post-Iraqi elections.” But he warned that it would “depend entirely on the security situation here in .” Despite the recent victory in Fallujah, few analysts are sanguine about the prospects for an improved security environment in the near term. Even if the security situation does improve, reasoned estimates indicate that it may take up to five years to train a reliable, professional Iraqi security force. Thus American troops, and those allies that are still willing, are likely to remain in Iraq for the foreseeable future.





http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2689&from_page=../index.cfm

[LisaL]

9. Wake up, 90 year olds!

I bet they are coming after you next.

[acmavm]

11. The website that shall not be mentioned by name has a lot of gung no

pissants doing nothing useful or worthwhile. I suggest they go there for their war supporting, rifle toting cannon fodder.

[Sukie1941]

13. Campaign rhetoric

I thought one of the main campaign promises by Bush was that there would be no more troops sent to Iraq.

Has anyone started a broken campaign promise list yet?

[luaneryder]

15. He did say in a speech

that there would not be an all volunteer Army...the crowd went silent for a moment, then corrected the great idiot. Guess he's going to keep that mispoken promise.