Pentagon To Announce Continuation of 'Surge' Into 2008

[Hissyspit]

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Pentagon_to_announce_massive_continuation_of_0731.html

Pentagon to announce continuation of 'surge' into 2008

John Byrne and David Edwards
Published: Tuesday July 31, 2007

The Pentagon is expected to announce this morning that 20,000 troops will be rotated into Iraq at the end of this year to extend President Bush's troop "surge" through next spring, CNN reported Tuesday.

"They may have to reach down into the National Guard or Army reserve" to maintain the surge, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr said, and may extend tours of duty to maintain the surge past the spring of 2008 in what was described as a "worst case scenario."

Military commanders began to expect earlier this year that the surge would have to be extended into next year. In an article that appeared in the Washington Post in May, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who manages day-to-day operations in Iraq, said the surge needed to last "through the beginning of next year, for sure." Odierno noted at the time that new regulations extending tours of duty to 15 months would allow for the surge to last through spring 2008.

"These will be the replacement troops on a 15 month tour of duty, as the troops that are there finish up their tours of duty," Starr said on CNN Tuesday. "Reading between the lines, what is interesting here, is these troops will allow the Pentagon to maintain the status quo."

Starr said troop shortages will hamper efforts to maintain the increased troop presence.

[Amonester]

1. But... but... but... "It never was about staying the course!" said the...

lying m'fer in the peoples' house.

[rodeodance]

5. what is up is down, and what is black is white, etc. etc in relation to what the WH says !!!!!

[Cooley Hurd]

2. We all knew this was coming down thw pike...

War supporters critics O'Hanlon & Pollack are saying the surge is working!:eyes:

[codepinkdc]

3. Disgusting!

What! How can they keep acting like this surge is working when everyone, including some REPUBLICAN senators admit that it is a total failure?!!!

[rodeodance]

4. what ever happened to Sept?------got moved to NOV, The April, 2008, now

sometime in 09.






just announce..... ummm

[TwilightGardener]

6. Dishonest to keep calling it a "surge"--a sustained increase in our

military presence over a year or more is not a "surge". It's a permanent force-numbers policy. And the focus on whether or not it's "working" is stupid--what will ultimately be the end result? We're a crutch, at best, right now. The longer we prop them up, the more dependent they'll get on us. Why should the Iraqis "step up" when we keep telegraphing our willingness to shed our own blood for them indefinitely? I'm not blaming them, I'm pointing to the nature of their situation--they don't seem to have faith in the puppet-populated Iraq government, so they're more interested in the advancement and empowerment of their respective tribes. As long as we keep doing the dirty work of fighting and refereeing the various factions, why would they want to stop us? We kill Sunnis, the Shia cheer. We take on Shia militias, the Sunnis cheer. Now we're going to help Turkey take on the Kurd guerrillas--there's just no end to this. No matter though--it's for the next Prez to absorb the failure.