posted on March 30, 2005 05:02:33 PM new
I sure hope this is true...
U.S. May Bring Troops Home if Violence Low
2 hours, 16 minutes ago U.S. National - AP
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - U.S. forces in Iraq could begin coming home in significant numbers if insurgent violence is low through the general elections scheduled for the end of the year, a top general said Wednesday.
A larger and more capable insurgency, setbacks in the efforts to develop Iraq security forces, or missed deadlines by the transitional government could delay any significant drawdown, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith.
Smith, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, which has military authority over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, commented in an interview with reporters at the Pentagon.
"(If) the elections go O.K., violence stays down, then we ought to be able to make some recommendations ... for us to be able to bring our forces home," Smith said.
Smith is the latest senior general to express conditional optimism about improvements in Iraq since the Jan. 30 elections. Previously, officials had spoken very little about prospects for withdrawal of the tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq.
In the last month, the rate of insurgent attacks on U.S., coalition and Iraqi personnel and civilians has dropped from an average of between 50 and 60 per day to between 40 and 45, defense officials say. U.S. forces are also suffering casualties at a lower rate.
Smith said that if that trend continues, Iraqi security forces should be able to handle the load, with American forces pulling back to function primarily as a rapid-response force in the event the Iraqis get in trouble.
"I think the answer to that is, yes, every indication is that they (Iraqis) will be able to handle this level of threat in the not to distant future," Smith said.
He said Gen. George Casey, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, will be coming up with plans early this summer for a possible drawdown.
Smith credited the security improvements primarily to the U.S. and Iraqi efforts in capturing and killing insurgents. But he also acknowledged that the Iraqi government has reached out to some Sunni Muslim groups that have been involved with the insurgency or worked against U.S. interests.
He mentioned in particular the Muslim Ulema Council, a group of leading Sunni religious leaders that is also known as the Association of Muslim Scholars.
"The Sunni have recognized boycotting the elections was a mistake," Smith said. "They clearly would like to figure out how they can get back in and participate."
But vast problems remain. Insurgents under Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and former leaders of Saddam Hussein's government remain active. Smith said there are some signs the groups, despite their different ideologies, are coordinating activities. Also, Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, only averages 12 hours of power a day, according to the State Department.
The insurgency has forced the United States to keep at least 138,000 troops in Iraq since the invasion two years ago. About 145,500 U.S. troops are in Iraq now, with about several thousand who were sent to assist in security for the Jan. 30 elections expected to go home in the coming weeks.
The semi-permanent force numbers 138,000 troops, or 17 brigades. More than 22,000 allied, non-Iraqi troops are also in the country.
Iraqi security forces have grown to more than 151,000 soldiers and police who have received training and equipment, Smith said. The quality and capabilities of these forces vary widely, and absenteeism among the police is a significant problem.
Early postwar plans for Iraq anticipated far fewer U.S. troops to be in the country by now, but the strength of the insurgency caught the U.S. military off guard.
posted on March 30, 2005 07:19:08 PM new
Actually, it's probable that "violence" will continue and an increased number of troops will be needed to continue the Bush warfare state. In the meantime, recruiters are finding it very difficult to enlist new soldiers.
The Army is seeking 101,200 new active-duty Army and Reserve soldiers this year alone to replenish the ranks in Iraq and Afghanistan, elsewhere around the world and at home. That means each of the Army's 7,500 recruiters faces the grind of an unyielding human math, a quota of two new recruits a month, at a time of extended war without a draft.
For the first time since 1998, the Army has lowered its standards, last week increasing its age limit for Reserve and National Guard recruits to 39. Last year, it agreed to accept thousands more recruits without high school diplomas.
It is now clear that there is already a severe military manpower crisis. If the U.S. continues or increases it's involvement in Iraq, which is nearly certain, and if there is U.S. involvement in other areas, the crisis will become extremely urgent, requiring an urgent solution--one that Rumsfeld and others dislike, but which even Rumsfeld has always said may become necessary in an emergency: "Conscription, compulsion of any sort, under our Constitution, requires a demonstrated need." (At the Presidential Commission on the draft at the University of Chicago, December 1966.) Many military experts believe that need has already been fully demonstrated. As Carter and Glastris put it in the Washington Monthly: "...there's the serious ethical problem that conscription means government compelling young adults to risk death, an to kill--an act of the state that seems contrary to the basic notions of liberty...In practice, however, our republic has decided many times...that a draft was necessary to protect those liberties." They and others believe the time has come again to overcome such ethical qualms--"if American wishes to retain its mantle of global leadership...." Or, more bluntly, if Rumsfeld, Bush and the neo-cons wish to complete the building of a total warfare and security state, as they clearly intend to do, some form of conscription must follow.
posted on March 31, 2005 07:57:36 PM new
Libra63, I also sure hope our troops start coming home NOW. The Marine that works for me part time still hasn't found a good job. I really feel bad for this young man. We all need to take better care of these guys and gals.
posted on April 1, 2005 04:25:11 AM new
Libra63, don't worry I help this young man in many ways not just a part time job. He is really a very nice young man. A couple months ago he and 2 other young guys moved into a apartment. In our travels we found him a TV,furniture,bedding and towels stuff like that. Plus he gets paid more from me and gets treated better than his buddies get paid and treated working for republicans like you.
This young man is finding out that some republicans like you talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Yes Libra63 he is finding out that some republicans like you suffer from a disease called self-serving greed.
[ edited by bigpeepa on Apr 1, 2005 04:27 AM ]
posted on April 1, 2005 05:19:26 AM new
classicrock000<--thinks bigpeepa is really a republican in disguise and just teasing everyone.
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My sex life isnt dead yet....but the buzzards are circling
