Army chief planning large U.S. force in Iraq through 2006 (Denver Post)

[diamond14]

Article Published: Thursday, January 29, 2004

Army chief planning large U.S. force in Iraq through 2006

By Robert Burns
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The Army's top general said today he is making plans based on the possibility that the Army will be required to keep tens of thousands of soldiers in Iraq through 2006.

Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, told the House Armed Services Committee that "for planning purposes" he has ordered his staff to consider how the Army would replace the force that is now rotating into Iraq with another force of similar size in 2005 - and again in 2006.

He said the Army now is about 11,000 soldiers above the 482,400 limit and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has authorized the service to temporarily exceed the limit by as much as 30,000.


Members of the House panel expressed surprise that Rumsfeld had agreed that the Army needed as many as 30,000 more soldiers, since he has publicly opposed a legislative move to expand the service.





Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker testifies today on Capitol Hill before the House Armed Services Committee hearing on military preparedness.



http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~11676~1920761,00.html#

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Rumsfeld to the press: We will be there as long as necessary

and not a minute more!

Things are still little "untidy" over there I guess!

[diamond14]

3. coming soon to your neighborhood "sucked into the intake"

also known as THE DRAFT....

[wuushew]

2. twenty three months worth of additional occupation

should equal about 1,000 more deaths at a 2003 death rate.

[gulfcoastliberal]

4. I Can't Imagine

That we would be able to stay that long once the Iraqi's get to rule Iraq. I imagine something along the lines of the Iranian revolution and unless the military would be willing to slaughter thousands upon thousands of angry Shiites, we would be forced to leave. However,the other day I read an article describing how we are building a base twice as large as Bondsteel - I doubt the military is planning on leaving anytime soon. Per the PNAC agenda.

[hang a left]

5. When we leave Iraq, we all will be leaving, the planet that is.

[RedEarth]

6. We are going to have to stay there until we find the weapons of mass

deception. Either that, or maybe the admin plans on invading another middle eastern country.

[Snazzy]

7. Reuters -- U.S. Army Plans Four-Year Boost of 30,000 Forces

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=1896&u=/nm/20040128/us_nm/arms_usa_troops_dc_1&printer=1

U.S. Army Plans Four-Year Boost of 30,000 Forces
2 hours, 50 minutes ago

By Vicki Allen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Strained by operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Army will boost its forces by 30,000 through emergency authority it expects to last four years, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker told Congress on Wednesday.

But Schoomaker, testifying to the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, rejected calls from lawmakers for a permanent increase in forces, saying it would undermine efforts to streamline and modernize the Army.

"Right now, I've been given the authority by the secretary of defense to grow the Army by 30,000 people ... under emergency powers," Schoomaker said. He said the authority from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was to last for four years.

...

Schoomaker told reporters after the hearing the Army would move quickly to add nearly 20,000 more forces, saying, "We want to achieve it as quickly as we can."

....


Edit: ad--funding, he says, will come from the Iraq $87 billion. Which I suspect is well on its way to being spent several times over.

[Snappy]

8. Liberation

If the Iraqies have been liberated why does the US need 130,000 troops plus others there?

Why does the US need 30,000 troops in Kuwaite?


If these troops were removed the military would not need another 30,000.

[Emillereid]

9. We here at DU have known this for months --

they had purchase orders for the bases into 2006.

[daleo]

10. "The Rapture" is coming soon

Since crusader armies will be miraculously whisked away, there is no need to make plans for leaving any of the invasion zones. It is all part of the PNAC plan.