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Getting the Lowdown on Iraq-(Lower ranking combat Officers answer senators)
time ^ | Sunday, Nov. 20, 2005 | SALLY B. DONNELLY

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


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iraq
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To: YOUGOTIT

Bingo.


21 posted on 11/20/2005 4:28:00 PM PST by Alia
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To: AEMILIUS PAULUS
Well I guess it's part of it - in bold below:

"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."

22 posted on 11/20/2005 4:28:18 PM PST by Paladin2 (If the political indictment's from Fitz, the jury always acquits.)
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To: yut

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?


23 posted on 11/20/2005 4:29:28 PM PST by Alia
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To: Flavius
I get emails from a coworker in Iraq who is there with the Minnesota National Guard. He says the same thing - they need more troops.

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.

24 posted on 11/20/2005 4:29:38 PM PST by Last Dakotan
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To: yut
Do you? You all sound more intrested in propping up some political party

Sounds like you are propping up the party that wants to lose and see America humiliated ala Vietnam, the democrats.

25 posted on 11/20/2005 4:29:49 PM PST by Dane ( anyone who believes hillary would do something to stop illegal immigration is believing gibberish)
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Comment #26 Removed by Moderator

Comment #27 Removed by Moderator

To: Republican Wildcat
Are they going to say the troops are the problem or not having enough troops are the problem?

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.

28 posted on 11/20/2005 4:35:16 PM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Paladin2

Thanks for the info. Usually about three attackers to every defender seems to be the rule of thumb.


29 posted on 11/20/2005 4:35:35 PM PST by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: Alia
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?

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?

30 posted on 11/20/2005 4:37:38 PM PST by Eagle Eye (There ought to be a law against excess legislation.)
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To: Eagle Eye

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".


31 posted on 11/20/2005 4:39:24 PM PST by Alia
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To: digger48

Jr O's CANT know the "big picture" I'm surprised they dont consult with saddam.


32 posted on 11/20/2005 4:39:31 PM PST by aumrl (shah was not a threat 2 us...........)
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To: Dane
Sounds like you are propping up the party that wants to lose and see America humiliated ala Vietnam, the democrats.

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.

33 posted on 11/20/2005 4:40:48 PM PST by Eagle Eye (There ought to be a law against excess legislation.)
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To: Willie Green

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.


34 posted on 11/20/2005 4:41:15 PM PST by Republican Wildcat
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To: Eagle Eye

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?


35 posted on 11/20/2005 4:42:53 PM PST by Alia
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To: Republican Wildcat
This could put the libs in a bind. Are they going to say the troops are the problem or not having enough troops are the problem?

I don't think they really care anymore about making sense.
36 posted on 11/20/2005 4:44:13 PM PST by coffee260 (coffee(I BELIEVE CONGRESSMAN WELDON!))
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To: Eagle Eye
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

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.

37 posted on 11/20/2005 4:44:21 PM PST by Dane ( anyone who believes hillary would do something to stop illegal immigration is believing gibberish)
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To: Willie Green
Jack Murtha says not enough troops are the problem.

Wrongo, willie, murtha said the troops are now the enemy.

38 posted on 11/20/2005 4:45:59 PM PST by Dane ( anyone who believes hillary would do something to stop illegal immigration is believing gibberish)
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To: Eagle Eye
I know 'em. Two of my pals just got back in town this past week. And from different parts of Iraq. I'm glad they are home. Yut's got an opinion. And so do other soldiers, and they aren't at all like Yut. Don't even talk like Yut ESPECIALLY ON A PUBLIC POSTING BOARD. If they are going to talk "shop"; they do so in venues and with others who understand the "linguistic set".

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?

39 posted on 11/20/2005 4:47:09 PM PST by Alia
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To: Eagle Eye

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?


40 posted on 11/20/2005 4:47:31 PM PST by gaspar
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