posted on March 10, 2007 06:41:04 AM new
Pentagon Struggles to Find Fresh Troops
Updated 9:19 AM ET March 10, 2007
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - Military leaders are struggling to choose Army units to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan longer or go there earlier than planned, but five years of war have made fresh troops harder to find.
Faced with a military buildup in Iraq that could drag into next year, Pentagon officials are trying to identify enough units to keep up to 20 brigade combat teams in Iraq. A brigade usually has about 3,500 troops.
The likely result will be extending the deployments of brigades scheduled to come home at the end of the summer, and sending others earlier than scheduled.
Final decisions _ which have not yet been made _ would come as Congress is considering ways to force President Bush to wind down the war, despite his vow that he would veto such legislation.
In the freshest indication of the relentless demands for troops in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of coalition forces in the north, told reporters Friday that his troops have picked up the pace of their attacks on the enemy in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.
"Could I use more forces? No question about it," Mixon said, adding that he had asked for more.
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said a day earlier that it was likely that additional U.S. forces will be shifted to areas outside the capital where militants are regrouping, including Diyala. The region has become an increasingly important staging ground for militant groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq.
"There have been about 30 percent more offensive actions and attacks. Many of those are initiated by us; some are initiated by them," Petraeus said from a military base outside of Tikrit. "I am cautiously optimistic that in the next 30 to 60 days that we're going to see some significant differences in the security situation in Diyala."
If not, he said, he'll go back and ask for still more support.
Petraeus said Thursday that the U.S. buildup in Iraq would need to be sustained "for some time well beyond the summer" to garner the needed results.
Maintaining increased troop levels, said military officials, will require troops to return for what could be their second or third tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, and force military leaders to juggle the schedules to give soldiers a full 12 months at home before returning to battle.
The officials would speak only on condition of anonymity, because no final decisions have been made and no formal requests for the forces have come from commanders in Iraq. But they said it is beginning to appear likely that Petraeus will ask to maintain much of the buildup at least through the end of the year, and possibly into 2008.
One official said planners are scrambling to figure out what combination of units and schedules can be fashioned that could give Petraeus what he wants and have the least negative impact on the troops.
The complex scheduling must identify which units would have been home for 12 months and be trained and ready to go,
plus whether the needed equipment would be available and
what impact a schedule change has on other plans for the equipment or troops months down the road.
Combat troops, meanwhile, are coming to realize that the
Pentagon can't fulfill its commitment to give soldiers two years at home for every year they spend deployed.
posted on March 12, 2007 12:48:29 PM new
Linda,Crows talking to herself in here.If ya dont start answering her posts,we're gonna have a suicide on our hands...
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If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
[ edited by classicrock000 on Mar 12, 2007 12:49 PM ]
posted on March 12, 2007 01:00:35 PM new
linduh's mouthpiece sockpuppet shows up to state the obvious....you end up with silence from the righties when they're presented with the truth...
Another reason the Pentagon Struggles to Find Fresh Troops below.
Guard Soldiers Back From Iraq Report Mental Health Problems
POSTED: 3:45 pm EDT March 12, 2007
UPDATED: 3:53 pm EDT March 12, 2007
PORTLAND, Maine -- A survey completed anonymously by Maine Army National Guard soldiers who served in Iraq found many reporting mental health problems. There were also reports of significant stress in relating with family and friends, and problems at work.
The survey found that more than one-third of Iraq veterans reported "hyperarousal" symptoms associated with post traumatic stress disorder, and about one-fourth reported significant symptoms of depression.
Download: Self-Reported Mental Health Status And Needs Of Iraq War Veterans In The Maine National Guard
The government-funded study involved 532 Guard members, of whom 292 served in Iraq. The results were released by Community Counseling Center, a private, nonprofit agency that provides behavioral health and family services in Maine.
Although roughly one-third of the Iraq veterans said they were interested in receiving help for their readjustment problems, the study found that very few actually sought it.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.
posted on March 12, 2007 04:10:18 PM new
"very few sought it"
What? so now the anti-war - admit defeat supporters - think THEY know better than the troops themselves whether or not they NEED to seek out treatment? LOL
Don't think so.
Our vets from WW1 and WW1 didn't suffer the effects of WAR any less than these troops are doing.
How many of them didn't feel THEY needed help either.
Some men are just stronger than others. Some don't experience the same problems at home...they're not even married.
They know help is available IF THEY choose it.
They certainly don't need all the 'girlie men' telling them what to do....as a way of advancing their ANTI-WAR AGENDA.
posted on March 13, 2007 12:36:52 AM new
Hey Bigpeepa, don't you just love all that "conservative compassion" from linduh for the people who are fighting, dying, and being maimed for life for people like HER ???
She sure doesn't belive in supporting the troops ! How anti-American can anyone get ?!!!!
posted on March 13, 2007 06:02:06 AM new
mingo,
Its terrible this government is sending the same troops to THE BUSH WAR in IRAQ two,three and four times.
Its no wounder they come home with damaged minds.
About LIAR_K and Bear they are making fools of themselves daily.
We are all watching LIAR_K becoming sicker and sicker as time goes along.
About Bear the guy tries but is just slow.
The mood of America is reflected here, remember when there were lots of Bush supporters here. Most are gone now because unlike LIAR_K and Bear they have some respect for themselves. They don't let themselves become bold faced LIARS in defending a failed President and his war.
