Disagreeable
Well-known member
This is wrong. Those of you who were in Vietnam remember how you circled a day on the calendar. The day you would be leaving. Remember the short timer sticks? Everyone in a combat zone has the date of his rotation engraved in his mind. Now the Bush Administation is considering extending the tours of some troops. That's wrong. It violates the trust our military has with their commanders. It shows that every claim the Bush Bunch has made about progress in Iraq is a lie. Link below; my emphasis.
"Military commanders in Iraq are considering extending the deployment of an Army brigade as part of the plan to increase forces in Baghdad to quell the violence.
According to a senior Defense Department official, portions of the 172nd Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, could see their return home delayed. But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are not final, said the proposal has not been presented to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Rumsfeld must approve any deployments that exceed 365 days. He has approved such extensions in the past, including several last fall when U.S. forces were increased to deal with violence at the time of the Iraqi elections.
The official also said that planned troop deployments to Iraq next month will go on as scheduled.
The decision to maintain about 15 combat brigades in Iraq, coupled with the new commitment to shore up Baghdad, shows how difficult it is to control the sectarian fighting in Iraq.
It also calls into question whether the Pentagon, under growing pressure from Congress and the American public, will be able to significantly reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of the year. Military commanders had expressed hope that troop levels could go below 100,000."
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_national_government/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19861_4874119,00.html
"Military commanders in Iraq are considering extending the deployment of an Army brigade as part of the plan to increase forces in Baghdad to quell the violence.
According to a senior Defense Department official, portions of the 172nd Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, could see their return home delayed. But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are not final, said the proposal has not been presented to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Rumsfeld must approve any deployments that exceed 365 days. He has approved such extensions in the past, including several last fall when U.S. forces were increased to deal with violence at the time of the Iraqi elections.
The official also said that planned troop deployments to Iraq next month will go on as scheduled.
The decision to maintain about 15 combat brigades in Iraq, coupled with the new commitment to shore up Baghdad, shows how difficult it is to control the sectarian fighting in Iraq.
It also calls into question whether the Pentagon, under growing pressure from Congress and the American public, will be able to significantly reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of the year. Military commanders had expressed hope that troop levels could go below 100,000."
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_national_government/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19861_4874119,00.html