WP: Iraq Force Is Seen As Likely To Grow (More Troops needed)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A2565-2004Nov21?language=printer

Senior U.S. military commanders in Iraq say it is increasingly likely they will need a further increase in combat forces to put down remaining areas of resistance in the country.

Convinced that the recent battle for Fallujah has significantly weakened insurgent ranks, commanders here have devised plans to press the offensive into neighborhoods where rebels have either taken refuge after fleeing Fallujah or were already deeply entrenched.

But the forces available for these intensified operations have become limited by the demands of securing Fallujah and overseeing the massive reconstruction effort there -- demands that senior U.S. military officers say are likely to tie up a substantial number of Marines and Army troops for weeks.

"What's important is to keep the pressure on these guys now that we've taken Fallujah from them," a high-ranking U.S. military commander said, speaking on condition he not be named because of the sensitivity of the deliberations on adding more troops. "We're in the pursuit phase. We have to stay after these guys so they don't get their feet set."

The possibility that additional troops would be required to battle the insurgency in this critical period preceding the Iraqi elections, scheduled for Jan. 30, has been signaled for weeks. The Pentagon took an initial step in this direction last month, ordering about 6,500 soldiers in Iraq to extend their tours by up to two months.

[pinkpops]

1. far off the mark

fix link

[Just Me]

2. No. Wrong. I urgently disagree.

Fuck the "rule of force". It never works,...anyone who believes otherwise,...PROVE IT!!

Yup. Hail Hitler for the "rule of force",...and you know F-A-I-L-U-R-E!!!

Flood "survival" via food, clothing & shelter,...into a country that WAS OTHERWISE STABLE (YOU FUCKING POWER-MONGERING, EAGER, ARROGANT, ASSHOLES),...

,...and there MAY be a PLAN FOR PEACE!!!!

It really sucks that the most out-of-freakin'-touch humans on the face of this earth,...are believing themselves so above us all. Someday, even though I'll want to piss all over them,...I'll merely address them,...for what they are,...for what they choose to be.

[KingChicken]

3. Sending more into this mistake, just like Vietnam, won't fix the long term

Short term objectives can be completed with more troops, but this is making a commitment in a place that is like quicksand to us. They will keep sending more and more to fix the short term tactical problems, but in the long run we are going nowhere. Do they really think this is going to go away by simply killing the insurgents, is our Military so stupid to overlook the big picture of the coming generations of fighters and foreign jihadists that are bound to result from our long term occupation? It has just begun, welcome to the next level.