Rumsfeld says more troops in Iraq possible

[Cocoa]

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=E0379027-DFC9-4ABA-8ECDC60C3DB70D03

<snip>

But Defense Secretary Rumsfeld Wednesday brushed aside criticism about troop levels, including from influential voices like Senate Armed Services Committee member John McCain, who has consistently charged that the Pentagon has deployed too few peacekeepers to Iraq.

"There's no magical number. There's no formula for this," he said. "The Soviets had something like 200,000 or 300,000 people in Afghanistan. We had a few handfuls. The Soviets lost and we won."

American soldiers in Iraq continue to be killed nearly every day, and terrorist bombings and kidnappings have not ended with last month's hand over of power. If military commanders say they need more troops to battle the insurgency, Secretary Rumsfeld said they will get them.

"And one would think that over time, we'd be able to begin reducing those numbers. On the other hand, as I say what's going to determine that are the facts on the ground. And we're going to see this through and if it takes additional forces, it will take additional forces," he said.

more...

[asjr]

1. Some university should offer a course in

Rumspeak for extra credit. It would be a fascinating class to take. Just think how much fun it would be to parody him. I hope John Kerry asks Clark to be Sec. of Defense in his cabinet so we will have someone with a brain and knows what the hell he is doing.

[physioex]

9. I saw his news conference...

But he wasn't his ususal smug self, "You can't know the unknowables". I hope they sat his ass down and put him in his place, but I doubt it.....

[Emboldened Chimp]

2. Soviets lost, but we won?

What, exactly, did we win? Wasn't the goal to get OBL? Well, we didn't do that, now did we? No, we didn't. So we won jack shit. And we're still there. But it's not Afghanistan we've got to worry about, it's Iraq. That will be our Soviet Afghanistan. Count on it.

[Cheneys_former_heart]

3. Hey, we got the Mayor of Kabul installed!

So the rest of Afghanistan is a shithole, we won Kabul, right? Karzai Unical rules! :-)

[w13rd0]

4. Yeah, what did we win?

What was the goal of the Soviets? What was our goal? Can a fair comparison even be made?

If your goal is to take over the corner tavern, steal all the liquor, and sell it as your own...

And my goal is just to run all the patrons out...

You bring all your friends in, try to intimidate the owner, and force him to sign over the deed. He refuses to sign over the deed.

I burn the place down.

Who accomplished their goal, you or me? And what does that mean to the neighborhood?

[BrotherBuzz]

12. Rumsfeld is in a timewarp...

He may have been thinking about the handful of CIA 'agents' armed with stinger missiles that we sent to Afghanistan to help defeat the Soviets during the Reagon/Bush era. His mind isn't to sharp these days, but he is sure we whooped ass in Afghanistan at some point in time.

[truthisfreedom]

15. we bombed them into the 2nd century! didn't you hear? we won! actually

i wouldn't be surprised if this was a leak that bin laden has been captured and is being held for election purposes.

[Skittles]

5. I'd like to send that warmongering bastard to a war zone

nt

[Solly Mack]

6. we won? we won? huh? was I sleeping? when did this happen?

[Barrett808]

7. Pretty disingenuous of Rummy -- the US-sponsored *mujahedeen* won

Then they went on to start attacking us.

[Rebellious Republican]

8. And where are they going to get these EXTRA troops from?

Can you say DRAFT, sure, I knew you could!

:shrug:

[chelsea0011]

10. Jenna and Barbara go first. I'll follow right behind.

[Disturbed]

11. More fodder for the killing machine.

Rumsfailed admitted publicly to violating The Geneva Convention, thus also violating The Constitution of the USA. Why hasn't Rumsfailed been charged with War Crimes?

[Strelnikov_]

13. Facts From His Ass Straight To His Mouth

Is our current situation that much different that the Soviets? Basically, the Soviets controlled Kabul and the larger cities, and the
Muj controlled the countryside.

From Globalsecurity.org

http://globalsecurity.org/military/world/afghanistan/cs-invasion.htm

"The Soviet armed forces that invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 consisted of about 40,000 officers and men and their equipment."

"It appeared that the Soviets planned to stay in Afghanistan for at least 10 to 15 years for the same reason they invaded: to preserve a friendly regime that could not survive without substantial armed assistance. The military costs to Moscow were relatively modest. The number of Soviet troops in the country estimated by different sources as between 105,000 and 150,000 but most often given as about 118,000 was sufficient to maintain the status quo but not enough to decisively crush the resistance."

From the above site, it appears that there are about 28,000 'Coalition' (non-indigenous) forces in Afghanistan.

"On July 7, 2004, Lt. Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, testified that, as of that date, about 17,900 US troops were deployed to Afghanistan. That number reflected a recent increase over the previous couple of months, partly in anticipation of elections to be held later in the fall in that country."

[joanne]

14. To repeat

Why hasnt Rumsfailed been charged with war crimes?

He must have been hiding in a cave as this is the first anyone has heard from him in awhile.

Now that they know where he is, what are they waiting for?

[Disturbed]

16. Violating the Geneva Convention and The Constitution of the USA

I guess that only applies when it is a non-Right Winger.

[cliss]

17. A few comments:

1) RumsFool said that the Soviets had 2-300,000 in Afghanistan. We had a few handfuls. We have some walking encyclopedias here at the DU. Is this accurate? Did they really have that many? And did we really only have "handfuls"?

2) If we need more troops, RumsFailed will get them. From where? Our troops are at dangerously low levels right now. We've had this problem from day 1: not enough troops. The reason is that the rest are deployed elsewhere in the world protecting "democracy" and if they were to be pulled out, it could cause serious problems.

3) "One wold think that over time, we'd be able to begin reducing those numbers". Why does he make this assumption? RumsFathead obviously feels that the Iraqis will come to accept their American "Hosts" in their permanent bases in Iraq, and that things will settle down.

So far, they haven't. Why not? Why have hostilities only increased? Haven't the Iraqis said over and over again, that they will not quit until the occupiers have left?

[MichiganVote]

18. So....

we should send in the handfuls and send back the thousands? Is that what I'm hearing?

Some logic.

You know the whole country should send Rummy a package of army soldiers. No need for him to defend his worthless war or peace plans. Just imagine the white house flooded with our support packages for Rummy. Warms my heart just to think of him hearing from all of us.

Dear Rummy,

Heard we won a war with a handful of soldiers and we want to do our part to send them to you.

Lovingly,
The Democrats

P.S. They've never heard of Abu Gharib