Bush caved to pressure on troops

[sabra]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061222-121151-3086r.htm

Bush caved to pressure on troops
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

President Bush only acceded to a jump in the number of U.S. Army and Marine Corps ground troops after intense pressure from senior officers, active and retired, including the Joint Chiefs, defense sources said.

...

But the deal-clincher came when he traveled to the Pentagon and met with the six-member Joint Chiefs inside the super-secret "tank."
There, the commander in chief listened to a request for more combat forces from Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, and Gen. James T. Conway, the Marine commandant, said defense sources briefed on the meeting.

The Army, with a little more than 500,000 active soldiers, is pulling the brunt of the war on terror both in Afghanistan and Iraq. Army combat brigade teams only receive about a 13-month home-base stay before deploying again. What's more, the Army is fast wearing out its inventory of armored vehicles and weapons and needs replacements fast, Gen. Schoomaker has said.

The Marines, who patrol the al Qaeda-infested al Anbar province, west of Baghdad, send 1st and 2nd expeditionary forces on seven-month rotations. Marine officers have complained of insufficient troop numbers to control the Sunni Muslim province.

[rodeodance]

1. You give me the surge troops and I will play ball (request military troop

buildup overall).


yup, it is game

[saigon68]

2. And pure gold to defense contractors

Now all they have to do is recruit thousands more toothless rustics

To play the part of clay pigeons in the "shooting gallery"

LOL

[Supersedeas]

8. in the noisy background...the chug of oil wells--why we fight

[saigon68]

19. Pumping out the "Black Gold = Texas Tea"

The Beverly Hillbillies revisited

[MasonJar]

3. Self delete

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

4. I wonder what Abizaid had to say. n/t

MKJ

[Nihil]

10. From the sound of it ...

... "Goodbye"
:shrug:

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

16. LOL. n/t

:hi: MKJ

[babylonsister]

5. So what is the real story? I'd read the Joint Chiefs are opposed to

this 'surge'. How are we supposed to form an opinion if we keep getting mixed signals/stories?:banghead:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2658008

[maddezmom]

13. I think the Generals would to increase the total size of the military, but opposed to more troop in

Iraq :shrug:

[babylonsister]

14. Your shrug says it all. What's the real story? It's be nice if we

could trust a source, any source!

[Warren Stupidity]

18. The generals who are actually aware of the situation

are aware of the fact that the armed forces have not been able to meet current troop authorization levels and that consequently additional troop authorization levels are BULLSHIT.

[rodeodance]

15. this story in NOT about the surge--but is about the Build up Reg. Milartary

over time. Rummy is gone now----he is one who put in place the small, lean clean fighting machine.

[patricia92243]

6. Tweety, Joe, et al were all saying that the Joint Chiefs said they did NOT want more soldiers. Whic...

Which is right - they either do or don't want more soldiers - can't be both.

[msongs]

7. propaganda to justify the escalation/expansion of the war nt

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Why doesn't Bush just draft

the 100,000 private 'security' personal who are already in Iraq and then we might actually be able to get the security situation under control.

[Nihil]

11. Good idea!

Not only get the extra troops but reduce the cost to the defence budget
by paying them standard US Army rates (+ barracks instead of hotels, etc.).
:toast:

[Bonescrat]

21. And many if not most are former military anyway...

Not much additional training required...

[SpiralHawk]

12. Commander AWOL = Clueless

He usually only take advice from his expert, Dick 'Five Deferments" Cheney.

What a disgrace to have these two AWOL chumps leading America's armed forces.

A disgrace.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Hmmm... "THE WASHINGTON TIMES"

My bullshit meter is on high alert. This is about as credible as the staged grunts-want-more-grunts bullshit held for the new toady Gates in Baghdad.

[annabanana]

20. The Moonie Times!?

Since when do we give any credence to reports from the Washington Times?

It is clear that shrub's talk about increasing the overall size of the military, something that all branches of the armed forces are in favor of (always have been) at the same time that he's looking for some (any) support for sending more kids into Iraq should make it clear..

They are muddying the water of discussion.

The Joint Chiefs do not support a "surge" (escalation in real language).. They would, however, like more personnel available for any and everything else.

Don't let them confuse you.

[leesa]

22. What a con job this is. And everyone will go along with it once again.