Pentagon announces Iraq troop rotations

[babylonsister]

Full steam ahead, damn Congress and what's decided in September.


Pentagon announces Iraq troop rotations

By RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 6 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Nearly 20,000 U.S. troops based in the United States will begin departing for Iraq in December as part of the regular rotation of combat forces there, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

These Army and Marine Corps units are not related to the buildup of American troops announced by President Bush in January, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

Scheduled to deploy later this year and early in 2008 are the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Marine Regimental Combat Teams One and Five, also out of Camp Pendleton; and the 3rd Brigade of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

"These forces are replacement forces for the level of effort of 15 combat brigades, which was the standing level of effort prior to the surge," Whitman said. "They are not forces identified to replace surge forces."

The surge brought the number of combat brigades in Iraq to 20. Each combat brigade has roughly 3,500 troops.

Whitman would not say what units would be replaced.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070731/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_troops;_ylt=AgdAk_ZlpbjMqw6sl8M.QR.s0NUE

[Breeze54]

1. oh joy....

:grr: