Pentagon officials concerned about declining public support for Iraq war

[maddezmom]

35 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (AFP) - Senior Pentagon officials expressed concern about declining public support for the war in Iraq but rejected Congress calls for a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces.

"I think it's fair to speak on behalf of the commanders and say that they would probably not welcome an artificially imposed deadline," said Lieutenant General James Conway, operations director of the Joint Staff.

"They have their plan. It's a plan for victory. And forces will be withdrawn when victory is accomplished between U.S. and Iraqi forces," he said at a Pentagon news conference.

Amid polls showing eroding public support for the war, two Democratic and two Republican lawmakers on Thursday urged President George W. Bush to set a plan for a US withdrawal from Iraq, and said they would introduce legislation requiring him to do so.

~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050616/pl_afp/iraqusmilitary_050616183221;_

What's the plan and how many times are we going to hear Mission Accompished Almost?

[TroglodyteScholar]

1. "Victory"

When "victory" has a definition so vague as "when Iraqi forces are ready to take over," how can the public possibly continue to support this nonsense?

[UpInArms]

3. quote from Rumsfailed

Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defence: "What is victory? I say victory is persuading the American people and the rest of the world that this is not a quick matter that will be over in a month or a year or even 5 years. It is something we need to do so that we can continue to live in a world with powerful weapons and with people who are willing to use those powerful weapons. And we can do that. That would be a victory in my opinion." Dec. 2001

[norml]

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[Ganja Ninja]

4. They should be concerned with the declining enlistment rates ..

and how they are going to relieve our already war weary troops when they don't have enough in the pipeline. Public support matters little when the troops get tired of taking on an unfair burden and finally say enough! When they refuse orders and sit at their bases or start fragging their officers then the war pigs will know they have a real problem on their hands.

[Coastie for Truth]

5. The quagmire will be as devastating to the military as Viet Nam

I predict a mass exodus of mid-career NCO's and officers -- it will take a generation to recover. Just like after the Tet Offensive and Mai Li.

But it will be worse this time - it will also devastate the National Guard -- the Guard's real job is disaster relief - after tornados, hurricanes, major blizzards, etc.

Soldiers don't like being jerked around in a quagmire for no reason. (Including indefinite tours, stop loss orders and jerking around over health care and Service Members Civil Relief).

[The Stranger]

6. Alert for imminent terror ("raise the poll numbers") alerts.

[katty]

7. Mission Impossible-it always was

[mbperrin]

8. "All we have to do is wait for this peace craze to blow over. Meanwhile,

jump in on the winning side."

Full Metal Jacket is more relevant than ever.