Troop Level in Iraq Reaches Highest Mark

[sabra]

Source: MSNBC

From NBC's Courtney Kube
The number of US troops in Iraq has hit its highest level since the beginning of the war, with about 162,000 US forces on the ground there. But keep in mind that the armed forces are in the middle of a transition, with three brigades re-deploying and preparing to re-deploy right now. Some of the replacement brigades are already in Iraq, so the overlapping soldiers have caused the bump in force levels.

Pentagon spokesperson Bryan Whitman chalked up the increase to "normal rotations," citing the fact that the troop levels have hovered around 158,000 for the past three months.

The details: The 36th and the 25th Combat Aviation Brigades are both re-deploying now, and the 13th Sustainment Command is preparing to re-deploy now that their replacement brigade is completely on the ground. The 36th has about 2,700 soldiers; the 25th has about 2,500; and the 13th has more than 5,000 soldiers -- for a total of more than 10,000 soldiers who will be transitioning and re-deploying over the next six weeks.

Read more: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/07/306743.aspx

[Wilber_Stool]

1. And may I remind you that

there are mercenaries and war profiters that are doing the work normally done by the troops. That puts the total number at well over 300,000.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Yep. That makes for a much higher ratio of combat troops to

non-combat troops. Not sure about it, but I vaguely remember reading that in Vietnam it took 5 or 6 support troops for every one in the field - now, with the contractors, I'd reckon it's more like 2 or 3. Anybody know the real numbers?

[Barrett808]

2. US troop levels in Iraq reach all-time high (nearly 162,000)

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US troop levels in Iraq have hit their highest point of the more than four year old war, with the numbers swelling to nearly 162,000 because of overlapping unit rotations, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the number surpassed the previous high water mark in the war, about 161,000 troops in January 2005 after national elections.

"There is no change to the level effort and combat power that we are projecting into Iraq. The 20 combat brigade and the associated combat services and combat support that are required to sustain that level remains constant," he said.

"What has changed today with the numbers spiking a little bit is due to just the normal flow of forces in and out," he said.

Whitman put the current number of US troops in Iraq at nearly 162,000.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070807/pl_afp/usiraqmilitaryforces

[Botany]

3. O.K. we have won ..... time to go home

4.5 years into this mistake we have more troops than ever in Iraq .....

162,000 to control 24 million Iraqis?

[krispos42]

4. This is very good news

This means that, in 12 short years, we'll reach the troop levels we actually need to pacify Iraq so the political process can sort itself out!

12 years to reach the troop levels, 10 years to pacify Iraq, three years for the political process to work itself out, and five years to withdraw...

We'll be out by 2037! A bargin at any price!

[0007]

6. Wrong!! It will take five years of begging other counties for

money to bring our troops back to this lovely country.