NEWSWEEK: Iraq: How Many Boots on the Ground

[leftchick]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6653312/site/newsweek/

~snip~

Dec. 13 issue - Many U.S. troops say it's one more broken promise. They landed in Iraq planning to rotate out after six months. Then Washington extended their stints to a full year. That was the limit, the Pentagon swore: just "365 days, boots on the ground," not a day longer. But last week the brass announced the decision to raise U.S. troop strength in Iraq by 12,000—meaning, among other things, that roughly 10,000 Americans now in Iraq can count on stretching their stay to 14 months. The new boost, the biggest since March 2003, will bring America's military presence in Iraq to 150,000. That total is more than it took to invade Iraq in the first place.


No one knows how long the buildup will last. The reinforcements are needed, and not only to provide security for the Jan. 30 elections. Last month's U.S. assault on the insurgent-held city of Fallujah may have been a success, but the aftermath has been a disaster. On the highway to Baghdad's main airport, suicide bombings have gotten so frequent that last week the American Embassy officially declared the road off-limits to its personnel. Now, U.S. diplomatic staffers need helicopters to get to the airport from the Green Zone. Mosul, six times Fallujah's size, is now almost as much of a no-go zone as Fallujah ever was. Thousands of Iraqi police have fled their posts, and more murdered bodies of Iraqi National Guardsmen turn up every day.


Worse, the elections may end up sucking U.S. troops deeper than ever into the morass. By Jan. 30 election officials want only Iraqis openly standing guard at the country's polling places, with no U.S. forces in sight to upset voters. But insurgents are targeting Iraq's security forces. Last week alone, attacks on police facilities in Ar Ramadi and Baghdad left at least 57 officers dead. Many cops on street patrol in Baghdad now wear masks to hide their identities. Without U.S. military backup, Iraqi security forces could be decimated on Election Day—dealing a drastic setback to the planned security handover that is vital to America's exit strategy.


The Iraqis' chief U.S. trainer insists he's not worried. "There's no shortage of recruits" despite the insurgent attacks, says Lt. Gen. David Petraeus. "We have more candidates than we have spaces." Large numbers of new Iraqi forces will be deployed in the next few weeks, he promises. And he was elated by reports on Friday that Mosul cops succeeded at last in fighting off insurgent attacks at four police stations.



Mehdi Fedouach / AFP-Getty Images
Weary soldiers: Washington has again extended tours of duty for American troops

[Mari333]

1. extended duty, and the US public just shops..

Michael wont be home this year. Another reason this whole family is boycotting Xmas, and not celebrating a damned thing.

[GHOSTDANCER]

14. But Jesus is the bearer of a good fourth quarter. Praise the Lord!!!

Feed the machine!!!!

[Massacure]

2. We will find the 380 tonnes of missing explosives on Jan 30 or Feb 1.

I'm 99% sure that it will be too late as well.

[cornermouse]

3. Don't you know? Iraq is the equivalent to WWII.

(sarcasm)

[izzie]

4. Christ man song this year will be "Seems Like Old Times"

[Wright Patman]

5. The leader of my Sunday School

department down at the First Baptist Church just read a letter from her grandson-in-law who is in Iraq.

According to him, everything is going great and 99 percent of the Iraqi people are just hankerin' for that democracy we are installing. Do not believe the dismal, gloom-and-doom reports of the news media, he wrote. (Question: How does he know we are seeing dismal reports? Has he not heard of the Fox News Channel?) He also recounted how he had just rebuilt a water treatment plant and other public works.

Every one of the 60 or so others in that room, having just heard this marvelous presentation from one of the "good guys," now no longer believes their "lyin' eyes" which see contrary events on the "lib'rul media" and are now content once again that all is well and Bush REALLY IS God or at least His New, Improved Son of God.

It sounds to me like most of the soldiers have drunk the Kool-Aid. They do not want to come home. I say we grant them Iraqi citizenship and allow them to live permanently in this new paradise on earth they are creating

[neuvocat]

6. If I'm not mistaken

that sounds an awful lot like a letter that was copied out and passed around to different people-soldiers were told to put their names on the different copies in order to make it look less obvious even though it was the same letter word for word.

[leftchick]

7. you are not mistaken...

That has been circulating for quite a while now. For shame on the Pastor.

[Barrett808]

8. Even if not part of the new propaganda offensive, many troops don't see...

..what's happening in the hot zones. They're in support roles and are largely insulated from the worst of the violence. In this situation, most only know what they're told, unless they have extensive internet access.

[Ernesto]

11. self delete

[Ernesto]

10. And you support such an organ of political propaganda?

Just wondering.

[Wright Patman]

13. Do you mean

the Baptists or the Faux News Channel?

I don't watch TV, so I can definitely say no to the latter. But I am still a member of that church. I have had some, ahem, "loving confrontations" with many of the members over the last 20 or so months since the Chimperor declared Iraqis to be "evildoers."

It's a small town. There is the typical groupthink of rurals everywhere. The IQ level is lower than average. That's just a fact. The people in general are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Many are proudly anti-intellectual. In fact, the entire Baptist mentality to some extent is grounded in anti-intellectualism.

I don't dislike these people. I view them as misguided. I really think they will most likely have to answer to God someday about their support of this naked aggression. Hey, maybe that should be my new tack. They start paying closer attention when someone accuses them of something having to do with getting "naked."

BTW, I certainly don't think I am any more righteous than any of them; I'm just not into mass killing of innocent civilians. I can never support that in the name of anyone's god. I think I'll have to answer to God for things I have done or not done that I least suspect are wrong right now as well. We see through a glass darkly and all that.

[Ernesto]

16. Good reply WP

Lately I have been defending the poor dumb shit (miss guided} Marines (I was one in Nam) that have been getting hammered by the non-combatants around here. Please hang in there & be a voice of reason. Sounds like those folks can benefit from your good counsel.

[SOS]

9. 73% of US troops favored Bush

From USA Today:

"In the survey of more than 4,000 full-time and part-time troops, 73% said they would vote for Bush if the election were held today; 18% said they would vote for Kerry.

The survey was conducted Sept. 15-28 by the Army Times Publishing Co., which distributes the weekly newspapers Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times."

Bush promised that he would stay in Iraq "as long as it takes". Three out of four voted for him. To be angered by extended deployments doesn't make much sense, since it was perfectly clear that this would happen. Maybe Newsweek interviewed some of the 18% that favored Kerry?

[Ernesto]

12. We got the Marine Corps newspaper in Nam

It was so full of rah-rah cheer leading that I had to subscribed to Time Magazine to try to understand what was happening in the very country that I was in.
Kinda like us here reading the foreign press to understand America.

[llmart]

15. Hey, if you or your families voted for Bush........

then quit your pansy-assed whining and put a fricken' smile on your face! You asked for this - you got it. Those of you who voted for Bush should volunteer to stay FOREVER!