U.S. general in Iraq needs more troops

[Ilsa]

Source: Associated Press / Yahoo link

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
8 minutes ago

WASHIGNTON - The U.S. commander in northern Iraq said Friday that he doesn't have enough troops for the mission in increasingly violent Diyala province.

Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon also said that Iraqi government officials are not moving fast enough to provide the "most powerful weapon" against insurgents — a government that works and supplies services for the people.

Mixon commands the area that includes Diyala province, north of Baghdad. It was a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency before the start of the Baghdad security crackdown and has worsened since militants fled there to avoid the increased U.S.-led operations started in the capital in February.

Mixon has already received extra troops and has increased attacks on militants. But he has asked Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, for more.

SNIP

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070511/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_troops_2;_ylt=AhGi.rXyNwjT3SXwuaqzbfpX6GMA

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Also posted in GD earlier before an online story was available. Read here for more DUers comments:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=866677&mesg_id=866677

[ananda]

1. abuse and victimhoodology

Bushinc is a bully, a bad one, the worst of all
possible bullies and abusers. The entire USA
is actually a cult of abuse and victimhood..
we the people are victims, and our government
and military act as our protectors and abusers of
a fabricated other enemy in orger to keep us
compliant... In the case of Iraq, they are now
blaming the victims over there, which is so sad
and unconscionable it hurts mightily.

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. I cannot believe Odierno is still commanding troops in the field

He ran the 4th Infantry Division like a fucking street gang, and it is largely responsible for the insurgency. It was a criminal enterprise of first order.

To repeat, the performance of the 4th Infantry division in 2003, under Odierno's comman, was disgraceful, and is likely one of the leading factors that got us to where we are now. General Odierno should have been cashiered in 2004; instead, he's out there - promoted - still operating in the field. It's disgusting.

[sanskritwarrior]

13. Excuse me?

I was in 4ID in 2003 in Iraq and we were most assuredly not a "fucking street gang"........Provide some proof other than your own myopic opinion of what I and my brothers and sisters did over there and what Gen. Odierno, a man I would die for, did that was so horrible. My tour with 4ID was by far the one I feel the most honorable about........

[Kikosexy2]

3. As Rummy said...

you go to war with the army you have, not the army you wish for...Well the Bush and Cheney children are available for service...

[babylonsister]

4. Commander in Iraq Asks for More Troops

Source: AP

Commander in Iraq Asks for More Troops


Friday May 11, 2007 10:16 PM

By PAULINE JELINEK

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. commander in northern Iraq said Friday he doesn't have enough troops for the mission in increasingly violent Diyala province.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon also said that Iraqi government officials are not moving fast enough to provide the ``most powerful weapon'' against insurgents - a government that works and supplies services for the people.

Mixon commands the area that includes Diyala province, north of Baghdad. It was a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency before the start of the Baghdad security crackdown and has worsened since militants fled there to avoid the increased U.S.-led operations started in the capital in February.

His comments on the Iraqi government were unusually candid and in keeping with the sentiment in Congress and among some administration officials as well as an American electorate becoming ever more impatient with the war.

Mixon has already received extra troops, but violence in Diyala is on the rise, he said, both because more militants have moved in and because coalition forces are taking the offensive.

more...

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6626412,00.html

[dave_p]

5. It just never ends

No decent Iraqi government or army, and none in sight. No weakening of the resistance. Where does it end short of flattening the place and everyone in it? It's just absurd. What a fiasco.

[rodeodance]

6. The U.S. is taking increasing casualties in Diyala. One soldier was killed Thursday

Mixon has already received extra troops, but violence in Diyala is on the rise, he said, both because more militants have moved in and because coalition forces are taking the offensive.

``We are sure there are elements of both Sunni extremists and Shia extremists that have moved out of Baghdad and relocated into not only Diyala province, but also into Salah ad Din province,'' he said.

The U.S. is taking increasing casualties in Diyala. One soldier was killed Thursday from an explosion during combat operations in the province; one was killed and four others were wounded Tuesday in a shooting attack; and six U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday when a massive bomb destroyed their vehicle.

``I do not have enough soldiers right now in Diyala province to get that security situation moving,'' Mixon said. ``We have plans to put additional forces in that region.''

[roamer65]

7. Anyone up for a game of "Whack a mole"?

The only winning move is not to play.

[Gregorian]

8. Who wants to bet he was TOLD to ask.

Or better yet, PAID to ask.

We aren't winning anybody's hearts and minds except the contractors who are making a shitload of money off this illegal invasion.

[bonito]

9. So much for the surge.

And if anyone has time, read this for more detail on the ground.http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=173730

[harpboy_ak]

10. Past time to BRING THE BOYS HOME n/t

[Az_lefty]

11. General in Iraq begging for "bigger" surge...

give it to me dubwa, give it to me!!!!!!

wish I could draw an appropriate graphic for this.

[tabasco]

12. Maybe military expert Chicken Cheney will chime in on the request.

"Will anyone in the administration ever be held accountable for putting down Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, the Army's chief of staff before the war? Shinseki told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in early March that "something on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers" would be required to occupy a postwar Iraq.

Two days later, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz described Shinseki's estimate as "way off the mark." Cheney was also dismissive. In his "Meet the Press" appearance, he insisted that "to suggest that we need several hundred thousand troops there after military operations cease, after the conflict ends, I don't think is accurate. I think that's an overstatement."

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0822-04.htm

[DrDan]

14. I wonder how many he needs - 30,000?