Official: U.S. to Reduce Troops in Iraq (no increase in non US troops)

[papau]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3637153,00.html

Official: U.S. to Reduce Troops in Iraq

Saturday January 17, 2004 9:46 PM
By VIJAY JOSHI
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A U.S. troop rotation trimming forces by 20 percent in Iraq will replace heavy weaponry with high-tech, mobile fighting gear meant to counter the hit-and-run attacks of a changing enemy, a senior Army official said Saturday.

Most of the 130,000 troops serving in Iraq will begin returning home or to their foreign bases over the next four to six months. They will be replaced by a less heavily armed force of about 105,000 in the largest troop rotation since World War II, a senior Army official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. <snip>


The number of Apache helicopters will be reduced from 140 to a mixed force of 100 Apaches and Cobras. The Black Hawk helicopters will dip in number from 350 to 200.
However, mechanized infantry fighting vehicles will go up in number from 600 to probably over 850. The new equipment and fighting machinery is aimed to ``scare and deter'' domestic and foreign terrorists who attack coalition forces, the official said. <snip>

Much of the reduction will be in northern Iraq, where minority Kurds are the closest coalition allies. The number of troops will go down in the north from about 19,000 to 9,500, but they will be equipped with the highly mobile Stryker vehicles, said the official.<snip>


The number of troops from other countries in the coalition will remain the same at about 25,000, he said.

[brainwashed_youth]

1. ok...

but is this really a good idea? I'm not saying it isn't. I mean, I haven't heard about any really bad attacks recently, but is this really a good idea

[Teaser]

5. How bad is a "bad attack?"

3 killed this morning is not as bad as the 9 killed in the chopper downing last week, but it's still worse than most attacks, which number about 1 dead per attack (if fatalities occur at all).

[louis-t]

2. Doesn't matter if it's a good idea or not

because b*sh doesn't do things because they are or are not a good idea. He does them to gain political points. Period. I would be surprised if the death toll goes down but admin can easily spin that away.

[necso]

3. More political propaganda.

Many of the troops other there have been complaining that they have little (military stuff) to do and are just being kept there to bolster numbers. The timing of this action is just part of program to make it seem like things are getting better, to coincide with the election.

The wisdom of keeping artillery units, heavy armor and other heavy weapons units (lots of, anyway) there after the war was questionable anyway. Mobile infantry and MP units should be the overwhelming bulk of the force (supported by quick reaction forces) and this is what they are trying to put into place. Theoretically, this smaller force would be more effective, but we will see.

As for the Stryker, it is a farce. Its armor can't stop an RPG (a very common weapon) and I have seen pictures of the Stryker with a cage around it to protect the crew. Even with this in place it is vulnerable at the wheels and to mines and bombs.

Everything going on there is political, at least in its timing.

[reprobate]

9. How can you possibly say that about the Stryker?

Wasn't it supplied by the highest bidder in true bush fashion?

[number6]

4. Politics

:smoke:

[burrowowl]

6. What about all the mercenaries

they are hiring, e.g. 500 from India recently, Dyncorps, etc.?
Do they count?

[mikehiggins]

8. I thought the "new hires" were support staff, not combat forces

I was under the impression we were talking cooks, mechanics, stuff like that. Are these people under arms? Carrying weapons?

This country looks more and more like Imperial England every day. No wonder Blair likes us so much.

Stiff upper lip and all that, wot?

[teryang]

7. I'd guess that some sort of quantitative analysis

...has been used to estimate that less targets equals lower American casualties. The anarchy within Iraq will continue if not worsen.

These soldiers are going to a combat zone no matter the PR job trying to portray things as getting better.