Is he going to radically change the rules of engagement? If not, it is an idiocy.
This won't work without the destruction of the Militias.
The sources have knowledge, but no names, right?
I wonder if the "source" knew this:
The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James T. Conway, told the Times that President Bush went to the Pentagon a few weeks ago and said flatly, "What I want to hear from you is how we're going to win, not how we're going to leave."
Nothing like an "element of surprise." /sarc/
Is there anything we may plan that doesn't get broadcast to our enemies and the world?
Increasing troop levels is not a strategy. What you do with the troops, that is a strategy. And I haven't heard one yet.
1. I don't trust CNN at all.
2. President Bush will not "throw" 40,000 more troops into the arena for the helluva it or for the benefit of his critics.
SWEET! Ready the civilian combat commandos needed for follow on logistical support. Ramp it up baby.
On a serious note, as the freeper TomasUSMC likes to say: fight like WWII, finish like WWII, fight like Viet Nam, finish like Viet Nam.
Why can't we keep anything a secret anymore.
Wish once we could do something secret without the enemy knowing what our gameplan was. Some surprise.
"The US president has decided to shift John Negroponte out of the job of National Intelligence Director after 20 months and appoint him deputy secretary of state, as weighty backup for Condoleezza Rice. The USS John C. Stennis strike group will this month join the USS Dwight Eisenhower aircraft carrier group and USS Boxer strike force in the Persian Gulf “as a warning to Syria and Iran” in face of acts seen as provocative, and to give commanders more flexibility in the region. Continuation of Iran’s banned nuclear activities would come under the heading of “provocative.”
This is the second buildup of US naval, air and marine strength in the strategic waterway in four months. Deployment of the Stennis group puts a total of 16,000 US sailors in the region as well as another nuclear carrier and 7 escort warships, 10 air squadrons, 2 submarines and helicopters to support amphibious landings on enemy soil.
DEBKAfile’s military experts see in the new deployment evidence that President George W. Bush has rejected the key Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group’s recommendation to engage Iran and Syria for an exit strategy on Iraq. He has instead come down finally behind his own fundamental conviction that the Iraq war is winnable and Iran can be simultaneously confronted.
Tuesday, Jan. 2, The New York Times reported that the commander of US forces in Iraq Gen. John Casey was on his way out, accused of placing a policy of withdrawal ahead of winning the war. This grave charge is tantamount to flouting the commander in chief’s directives. Reports of Casey’s coming dismissal is further evidence of Bush’s resolve to pursue a proactive policy on Iraq and Iran rather than accept defeat."
1) Move trained Iraqi troops in low-activity areas to hot spots where they can get some real battle experience.
2) Redeploy our troops, currently in these hot spots, to other areas.
I do not believe any additional troops would be necessary to accomplish our objective under this plan.