Posted on 11/20/2005 4:11:00 PM PST by Flavius
If the Repulblican Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee wants to get a second opinion on how the war in Iraq is going, where does he turn? To the Pentagon, but not to the top brass this time. In an unusual closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill last week, Virginia's John Warner, joined by Democratic Senators Carl Levin of Michigan and Mark Dayton of Minnesota, sat across the table from 10 military officers chosen for their experience on the battlefield rather than in the political arena. Warner rounded up the battalion commanders to get at what the military calls "ground truth"--the unvarnished story of what's going on in Iraq.
"We wanted the view from men who had been on the tip of the spear, and we got it," said John Ullyot, a Warner spokesman who declined to comment on what was said at the meeting but confirmed that some Capitol Hill staff members were also present. According to two sources with knowledge of the meeting, the Army and Marine officers were blunt. In contrast to the Pentagon's stock answer that there are enough troops on the ground in Iraq, the commanders said that they not only needed more manpower but also had repeatedly asked for it. Indeed, military sources told TIME that as recently as August 2005, a senior military official requested more troops but got turned down flat.
There are about 160,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq, a number U.S. commanders in the region plan to maintain at least through the Iraqi national assembly elections on Dec. 15. But the battalion commanders, according to sources close to last week's meeting, said that because there are not enough troops, they have to "leapfrog" around Iraq to keep insurgents from returning to towns that have been cleared out. The officers also stressed that the lack of manpower--rather than of protective armor or signal jammers--posed one of the biggest obstacles in dealing with roadside bombs, which have caused the majority of U.S. casualties in Iraq. The commanders, according to the meeting sources, said there are simply "never enough" explosives experts on the ground. So far, no officer has been willing to go on record to complain about the need for more troops. But there is one positive sign: the Army recently decided to double the number of explosives experts to 2,500 over the next few years. From the Nov. 28, 2005 issue of TIME magazine
Bingo.
"the Doctrine expresses that military action should be used only as a last resort and only if there is a clear risk to national security by the intended target; the force, when used, should be overwhelming and disproportionate to the force used by the enemy; there must be strong support for the campaign by the general public; and there must be a clear exit strategy from the conflict in which the military is engaged."
You say you are in Iraq; and you say you are not a soldier. What are you doing in Iraq, Yut? How do you come by this "data" you proffer?
The problem as he sees it is that the cultural change the Iraqi people are going through. Moving from the rule of the thug to the rule of law is difficult to accomplish in a short time.
Sounds like you are propping up the party that wants to lose and see America humiliated ala Vietnam, the democrats.
Jack Murtha says not enough troops are the problem.
Knee-jerk republicans have attempted to smear him by saying that he's blaming the troops.
It's a very despicable tactic to avoid criticism.
Thanks for the info. Usually about three attackers to every defender seems to be the rule of thumb.
Do you really think that the military is the only presence in Iraq?
Donchya think that maybe some of those evil, mercenary contractors might have an insight or two?
I already asked him. He's none of the "above". I see he just got banned or suspended. Maybe he'll come back under another name with more "news" from the "front".
Jr O's CANT know the "big picture" I'm surprised they dont consult with saddam.
Care to share your logic in deducing that yut (now suspended or bannded) wants to prop up the democrats?
Sounds to me that he's right on target--to get a non political answer, ask the troops who are in the field.
Incorrect. The Democrats, including Murtha, have said the presence of the troops are the problem.
Get your facts straight and quit cozying up to the ultra-left of this nation.
And before ya jump: I've got loved ones in Iraq AND as contractors; so, yeah... I was civil when I asked. The "tude" just kept ad homineming and going bananas at me; on another thread. He clipped from this thread, and tossed it at me in another thread, while continuining to post ad hominems directed at me. You know any contractors talking like that?
Sounds to me that he's right on target--to get a non political answer, ask the troops who are in the field
Uh by pushing a Time article as the god's honest truth, and guess who is doing the questioning? Those oh so non political people, levin, dayton, and RINO warner.
Wrongo, willie, murtha said the troops are now the enemy.
Most soldiers online and coming back, have NEVER talked like Yut is posting. Not from Iraq (various parts), not from Afghanistan.
Are you a posting-pal of Yuts?
I've an idea. Why don't the three get their arses in gear and go spend a couple of weeks in Iraq in the field! Yes, I know, Both Levin and Warner are too old for that. But aren't they really to old for the Senate?
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