Bush may boost Iraq troops by 20,000
quote:Robert Gates is flat out lying about Iraqi's "willingness to step forward".
The President is likely to bow to a request for five more brigades as attacks rise to 1,000 a week
Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor
Sunday December 24, 2006
The Observer
President Bush began a series of urgent consultations with his key defence and foreign policy advisers at Camp David yesterday, amid expectations that he was preparing to agree to a request from US commanders to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq to secure Baghdad.
The request for five extra brigades to secure the capital follows the decision by senior US officers that, despite deep reservations, there was sufficient movement among Iraqi political leaders towards tackling sectarian violence to justify the deployment of extra US troops. A report in yesterday's Los Angeles Times reported that commanders in Iraq, including General George Casey and Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno, have decided to recommend a temporary increase in combat forces, a plan that appears to be gaining favour in the administration. Casey previously opposed the increase.
Bush was joined at his Maryland retreat yesterday by his new Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, who travelled to the presidential compound from a whirlwind fact-finding mission, meeting US military and Iraqi political leaders in Iraq. Also attending the meeting was Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who insisted that the sacrifice in American lives and aid to Iraq was worthwhile for regional security.
Recent comments by Bush, Gates and Rice have led to intense speculation that Bush intends to reject several of the key recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, instead increasing troop numbers. The talks come as a Pentagon report disclosed last week that the number of terrorist attacks had risen to almost 1,000 a week with almost 100 Iraqis now dying every day.
Instead of setting a timetable for a rapid withdrawal, administration officials have made clear that they believe that there will be a long-term US commitment on the ground in support of the Iraqi government. Hints from Gates in the past few days have suggested, however, that while US troops may remain, their mission is likely to be rapidly transformed to that of military advisers, as he spoke approvingly of one unit's success at training Iraqi brigades by boosting the size of the US teams embedded in each Iraqi unit.
Gates refused to rule out an expected surge in US troop numbers in Baghdad - perhaps by as much as a further 30,000 men - which has been widely expected as a short-term solution to the spiralling security problems.
~~~snip~~~
Bush ponders $10 billion New Deal to create jobs in Iraq
quote:
The Sunday Times December 24, 2006
by Sarah Baxter, Washington
THE White House is expected to announce a reconstruction package for Iraq as part of a plan for a “surge” of up to 30,000 troops into Baghdad when President George W Bush unveils America’s new strategy next month.
Bush is being urged to give up to $10 billion (£5.1 billion) to Iraq as part of a “New Deal” that would create work for unemployed Iraqis, following the model of President Franklin D Roosevelt during the 1930s depression.
At the Pentagon, the joint chiefs of staff are insisting on reconstruction funds as part of a package of political and economic measures to accompany the armed forces. They fear the extra troops will be wasted and more lives lost if Bush relies purely on the military to pacify Iraq, according to sources close to General Peter Schoomaker, the army chief of staff.
Military commanders have come round to the idea that an increase of troops is likely to form the backbone of Bush’s new strategy on Iraq. “People are warming to the idea that some sort of surge is necessary,” said a military official.
Robert Gates, the defence secretary, held talks with Bush, Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, and Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser, at Camp David yesterday, where he reported back on his three-day tour of Iraq. He said the willingness of Iraqis to “step forward” had advanced significantly.
~~~snip~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment