Posted on 08/23/2005 5:47:20 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
THE Pentagon plans to deploy two additional battalions to Iraq amid rising insurgent attacks ahead of an anticipated referendum on a constitution, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today.
Mr Rumsfeld expressed confidence that public support for the war effort in Iraq will hold despite polls showing growing disenchantment in the United States. "I think it'll have the support of the American people, and it will be sustained, and we will be successful," he said.
"And the alternative would be to turn that country and 25 million people over to terrorists and the kinds of people who have used chemicals on their own people and chemicals on their neighbours," he said. "That would be to turn to darkness."
An unfinished draft of the constitution was presented to the Iraqi parliament late yesterday, but deep differences remain between Sunnis and the Shiites and Kurds.
Mr Rumsfeld discounted concerns that Sunni rejection of the charter could leave US forces caught in the middle of a civil war.
"It hasn't happened yet. It is not happening now," he said.
"And, obviously, it is something that one has to be attentive to and be concerned about. But I haven't seen anything to indicate that the risk is greater today than it was yesterday or the day before," he said.
His comments came on a day in which two more Americans, a soldier and a contractor, died. They were killed in a suicide bombing in Baquba that also claimed the lives of five Iraqis.
Around 60 US troops have been killed so far in August, making it one of the deadliest months of the war for the US military since it invaded Iraq in March 2003.
The US death toll now stands at 1868.
Mr Rumsfeld acknowledged that insurgents have stepped up attacks in anticipation of a planned October 15 referendum on the constitution, attributing the higher casualties to more lethal and sophisticated insurgent bomb attacks.
"We very likely will be announcing a temporary increase in forces in Iraq in anticipation of the October 15th. So at some point, we'll be notifying people and taking that forward," he said.
Asked how many troops could be involved, he said between 1000 and 2000 soldiers.
Admiral Edmund Giambastiana, the new vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it would be two battalions.
Senior military officials said the battalions would amount to extra troops, brought in on top of the scheduled rotation of forces in Iraq.
Military officials also are looking at ways to adjust the rotation of forces to beef up the US troop presence on the ground for the elections from its current level of about 138,000 troops.
Some units already in Iraq could have their tours extended for a couple of months while units due to deploy to Iraq could be brought in earlier than scheduled.
Pentagon officials have said they expect the total number to rise to about the level they were at during Iraq's January 30 elections - some 159,000 troops.
they claim they talk to mid-level commanders in iraq about the situation.
Thanks Jess.
"...support for the war effort in Iraq will hold despite polls showing growing disenchantment in the United States."
Isn't it funny that the ONLY place the insurgents can even remotely hope to win this thing is in leftist American "polls?" ;) Also make sure you keep spreading the word that these "insurgents" are NOT Iraqi citizens turning against us. They are IMPORTED terrorists from Syria and Iran! Man, I wish they'd shout that from the rooftops! Karl Rove and the newest "spokesmodel" for President Bush are NOT carrying enough water these days for my likes!
And, good! I'm glad to see us adding some strength. If I could play Armchair General (versus my usual role as Monday Morning Quarterback) I would pull my troops back from the Syria/Iranian borders and just let her rip with massive bomb drops. At least until that Constitution is ratified. Buy the Iraqi people some peace and quiet while they work out the kinks.
But, the Generals generally don't ask midwestern chicken farmers what to do in these matters... ;)
I can say, Iranian and Syrian capitals.
Set priorities.
You cant do it all at once, and our personal experiences bear that out.
You chip away
Exactly...ahhhhh well...probably wishful thinking.
Dear George and Rummy,
All I want for Christmas is Peace in the Middle East by sacking Tehran and Damascus and "liberating" the peoples of those countries.
Sincerely,
In Hoc!
it wasn't me saying it per say, it was Hunt and Cowan.
I will tell him,Thank You
What do you call two extra batallions to Iraq?
A good start.
We need to stop all this politically correct mincing around and get this job done. Syria and Iran must be put on notice. Stop the infiltration of terrorists into Iraq or face air strikes. Increase the training of iraqi soldiers ten fold. Put a platoon of Iraqis with each American platoon. Stamp out utterly any neighborhood that harbours insurgents.
Stop screwing around Rummy.
Not when we are sending $15 billion to Africa to maintain female genital mutilation, and not while we are sending $1 billion to Islamic terrorist nations that had a tsunami, and not while we are sending billions to Yemen and Pakistan and other terrorist nations.
We "can't do it all at once" because our "leaders" are more concerned about global welfare than our own national security.
Global welfare has to be delt with.
15 B for female circumcision? your BSing me ;)
Still I maintain that we cant shoulder the worlds burdons all at once, if at all.
But despite all the faults and pitfalls I think this nation IS LEADING
This is true HOWEVER as is my want there have been 1407 KIA's for the entire Iraq War and 61 of those were in the month of August. Just the facts.
Thanks for ping. I wonder if the colonel(s) are familiar with actual ground conditions in Iraq. And are at all familiar with the geographies and road grid south of the whole Syrian border from Jordan to the Ephrates river then to the Syrian/Turkish/Iraqi border. Are they tank commanders? Have they been to Iraq. Have they with success commanded a BN in Iraq? Do they really hate the military that much to recommend that the excellant generals now in Iraq should be fired?
Why did they not add the magic for public consumption word quagmire? As for the equping of the new Iraqi Army. It is in transition. Why are things like the Abram tanks we are giving them (will be over a 1000), the current Russian T72 and other reworked tanks mentioned, the convoy trucks they are receiving from us, the three C130 cargo transport and choppers we gave them, and trained air crews and maintenance crews on. I assume since they recommended to fire some generals neither is currently employed by the DoD. And that sort of should sum things up.
I would highly recommend they go to FOB Korean Village in the remote NW Al Anbar province and tell Marines in my nephews they no longer need those long and almost continues 180 miles plus each convoys to bring them in food, supplies and mail. I wonder how many clean holes would be drilled into their heads within lets say 1 minute time frame.
As for the tanks at the borders. Their idiots at best IMHO.
Their statement on the border solution is simply ignorant at best. Do they think some goon sneaking in a car over the border in a car driven by a legitimate Iraqi citizen with no guns onboard is going to be effected by some Abram tank sitting in the middle of nowhere? Most of the Syrian/Iraqi border areas are simply vast desert wastelands, nothing there other then wadi and un-even terrain, undulating hills with some small mountain ranges on various axis.
Thats my response for what it is worth.
Of course for over a half year the DoD has indicated that when it gets close to the Constitutional draft and vote, and later the federal elections, we would be building up our troop levels. This article just supports what has been planned all along.
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