Officials: There 'aren't enough troops' to fix problems in Iraq

[Barrett808]

Officials: There 'aren't enough troops' to fix problems in Iraq
Military says 3,700 more troops are headed to Baghdad
By Tom Lasseter
McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Bush administration's decision to move thousands of U.S. soldiers into Baghdad to quell sectarian warfare before it explodes into outright civil war underscores a problem that's hindered the U.S. effort to rebuild Iraq from the beginning: There aren't enough troops to do the job.

Many U.S. officials in Baghdad and in Washington privately concede the point. They say they've been forced to shuffle U.S. units from one part of the country to another for at least two years because there haven't been enough soldiers and Marines to deal simultaneously with Sunni Muslim insurgents and Shiite militias; train Iraqi forces; and secure roads, power lines, border crossings and ammunition dumps.

...

But when U.S. forces have cracked down in one place, Iraqi insurgents and foreign terrorists have popped up in another. Some towns have been pacified multiple times, only to return to chaos as soon as the United States reduced troop numbers. In cities such as Baghdad, Kirkuk, Samarra and Ramadi, bloodshed ebbs and flows, but security is never a given.

The frustration of returning to quell violence in the same places multiple times has taken a toll on U.S. morale, undermined Iraqi confidence in the U.S. and cast doubt on the Bush administration's hopes of beginning significant withdrawals of soldiers and Marines by the end of this election year. There are 130,000 U.S. service members in Iraq, down from 160,000 last December.

"This is exactly what happens when there aren't enough troops: You extend people and you deplete your theater reserve," said a U.S. defense official in Iraq, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

(more)

http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060730/NEWS/607300301/1001

[bemildred]

1. Gee, who could have predicted this? nt

[Gully Foyle]

3. Yep

On a side note where were all the psychics?
They failed on 911 as well.
Good argument to use on the pro-psychic crowd.

[flyarm]

4. no kidding!

but but but ..they were going to throw flowers and candy in the streets......


:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

fly

[babylonsister]

2. DAMMIT, then get the troops out of there! Why is that concept

so difficult to grasp? :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

And why isn't anyone calling this pitiful admin on their shitty decisions?

[HereSince1628]

6. Cheney and Rumsfeld can overcome the SUNK-COST-EFFECT

We've invested too heavily and just another bet will bail their addicted asses out of their dilemma

[Barkley]

27. You're so right!

But logical decisions should be made at the margin:
comparing the marginal cost of stating in Iraq - $94 billion and 500 more US lives vs. the marginal benefit which is essential zero (and possibly negative).

[leesa]

10. They aren't done looting our treasury yet.

[rodeodance]

11. Murtha is try as is Feingold (and others )

[bronxiteforever]

5. Impeach the President now!!!!!!

Before he stole office we had a strong military, a balanced budget, a mideast process- now we are awol on diplomacy and the bottom line-he screwed-up our foreign policy so bad that it may be broken forever

[WhiteTara]

19. I hear you and Welcome to DU

:hi:

[krkaufman]

39. And add that this was all accomplished after an attack on the WTC in 1993

An attack that was pursued criminally, resulting in the imprisonment of the perpetrators and without inflaming world hatred against the US. The difference in approaches and results is tragic.

[Evergreen Emerald]

7. There is no definition of "the job."

Military cannot do "the job." They want perpetual war. How much longer are we going to allow them to use our military for their ideological agenda?

[Mist]

9. Not to mention: the "job description" keeps changing. nt

[sendero]

28. Exactly..

... the "job" they want done, i.e. stop the Shia and Sunni from killing each other, couldn't be accomplished with double the troops.

[w4rma]

8. Even with a draft there will never be enough troops. (nt)

[jaxx]

12. Bring em home.

Let the Iraqi's sort out their differences like they have done for all time. We are making things worse by staying there.

[symbolman]

13. My philosophy on the MidEast has been like

watching a Husband and Wife fight each other.. THEY are emotionally INVESTED in each other, THEY know the hot button issues, and deep down they NEED each other..

If you try to step inbetween a Husband and Wife battle, there's a good chance that BOTH WILL TURN AGAINST YOU, and POUND YOUR ASS..

THen, they will go right back too what they were doing anyway..

That's why we need GROWN UPS, of which it appears we are in short supply..

We've had Bush drive us out into the woods, get us to follow him to a Hornet's nest, where he WHACKED it with a Big Stick and then HE ran back to the car, locked us OUT of the car and is laughing at us Through the window as he drives off, while we get stung to death.

We are ALL Targets now, and HE will live behind 18 inch thick bullet proof plexiglas for the rest of his life, like Elvis.

1984 was wrong.. the Vision of a Boot on a Face was close, but more likely it will be the SOUND of Fingernails CLAWING at Limos as they pass by while we Starve to death and hurl our dead children at it.

[54anickel]

14. Soon there will be shift in the blame game to France and the others

who weren't so willing to join the "Coalition of the Willing". :eyes:

Meanwhile:

Aussie veto stopped war crime
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,19949662-948,00.html

A SENIOR Australian soldier intervened to stop key US military strikes against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, fearing they might constitute a war crime.

Major General Maurie McNarn, then a brigadier and commander of Australian forces in Iraq, on several occasions played a "red card" against the American plans, which included hits on individuals. His objections drew anger from some senior US military figures.

In one instance, Major General McNarn vetoed a US plan to drop a range of huge non-precision bombs on Baghdad, causing one angry US Air Force general to call the Australian a "pencil dick".

However, US military command accepted Major General McNarn's objection and the US plans were scrapped.

snip>

"The UN can't manage a damn thing," Mr Bush told Mr Downer, recalling his visit to Kosovo, where the President found the UN personnel to be "a bunch of drunks".

more...

[HockeyMom]

21. Coalition of the Bought and Paid for has Disolved

Who is left? Just US, holding the bag, so to speak.

[krkaufman]

40. Is it UN or NATO troops in Kosovo? n/t

[Barrett808]

15. "They're not allowed to ask for more troops. "

"They're not allowed to ask for more troops," the U.S. defense official in Iraq said. "If you say something you're gone, you're relieved, you're not in the Army anymore."

A number of senior military officials in the United States agreed.

"There's an overall feeling that if you ask for more you're going to get hammered," one said.

[rocktivity]

16. You knew that BEFORE you invaded

and disposed of the person who told you so!

:headbang:
rocknation

[lonestarnot]

17. So wrap it up and bring them all home. Fuck the war of lies!

[katinmn]

18. But McCain's son just joined the Marines. Should be ok now.

:sarcasm:

[IndianaGreen]

20. He may be in for a rude awakening when he gets to Iraq

Or is he going to get a cushy job as honor guard for Marine One?

[katinmn]

24. I don't know but I hope McCain wakes up in a cold fucking sweat

every night out of fear that his kid might be dying that second just like every other family who has "stock" in this war.

[saigon68]

31. McCain is awaiting the 2nd COMING His daddy told him so

DADDY--- MY DADDY

[katinmn]

33. ARGGHH!!

:puke:

[wisteria]

22. I think this is bullsh*t. More troops aren't going to help now!!

Yeah, when we first attached Iraq we should have had more troops. Not now though, now-three years later, after 90% of the Iraq troops have been trained and should be ready to stand up and our troops step down, we shouldn't have to be sending in more troops. This article also suggests that the violence is being generated by the insurgence when, in fact much of the violence now is between Iraq Sunni and Shiites. Sectarian dominant violence-not insurgency dominated violence. What is going on now will continue weather we are there or whether we leave. Actually, leaving may actually de-fang the insurgency since they are there because we are. IMO, our troops should not be called in to get in the middle of a Sunni-Shiite war. They need to decide themselves if they want to live together in peace or continue on a violent and destructive path.

[grytpype]

23. This source, "McClatchy Newspapers," used to be Knight-Ridder. A++++

Knight-Ridder is the only news organization that got the Iraq story right, and they continue to run circles around the rest of the media.

They were publishing stories skeptical of the WMD bullshit when the NYT was publishing Judy Miller's puff pieces.

Now they are telling more truth: we don't have enough troops to win the war and we never did. See if you can find that burning truth in any other news source.

[struggle4progress]

26. Not exactly: McClatchy bought Knight-Ridder.

McClatchy is IMO rather rightwing: they took over the local Raleigh News & Observer about a decade ago and have moved slowly but consistently to drive the paper to the right.

For a sample of what McClatchy ownbership will mean long term, here is an N&O wingnut in the lead-up to 4 July:

Published: Jul 02, 2006 12:30 AM
Modified: Jul 02, 2006 08:51 AM
N&O book editor J. Peder Zane: Patriotism

... It should be clear by now that I believe that patriotism is an extremely conservative notion. It requires us to love and support our government. People who actively oppose the government, who do not wish to bow to its wishes in a broad sense, are not patriots ...

What we need is a new word ... to describe those Americans whose conscience won't let them be patriots.

http://www.newsobserver.com/164/story/456803.html

I suspect the "new word" Zane seeks is something along the lines of "detainee" ...

[grytpype]

29. OK, but...

what's left of K-R is still turning out articles like this one.

[struggle4progress]

30. It is my paranoid suspicion that McClatchy will push the K-R remnant ...

... towards the right, just as they did with the N&O ...

[daleo]

25. The problem is U.S. troops in Iraq

More troops = bigger problem.

[saigon68]

32. MORE TROOPS == MORE TARGETS

MORE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ FOR HALLIBURTON

[katinmn]

35. What's the average death rate now? 2 per day?

I bet that moves up a few in the comes days and weeks.

[daleo]

37. Yep, they can get money to build stuff, then blow it up all over again

At hugely inflated prices. It's a great racket.

[ckramer]

34. No more "Bring'em On!" ????

Oh come on!

[saigon68]

36. "BRING EM ON" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

[radfringe]

38. telling bush what he wants to hear

-- snip--

Almost no high-ranking, active-duty U.S. officers are willing to discuss their concerns about troop levels publicly, for fear of being reprimanded or having their careers cut short.There's an unwritten understanding, they said, that the Bush administration doesn't want to hear about the need for more troops.

and yet - bush says he listens to commanders. How can commanders give honest assessments when the are in fear of being reprimanded or having their careers cut short. The commanders are telling bush what he wants to hear.

Commanders may be brave and courageous on the battlefield, but it seems to me they are fearful when it comes to taking a stand in the politcal arena..