Who is this guy kidding? Military leaders - including Gen. David Petraeus and Gen. George Casey - say we won't know if the surge is working until August - some say October or November. Just today Reuters is reporting that the Pentagon could boost its troops strength in Iraq by 3,000 beyond the 21,500 President Bush has already ordered deployed.
And Gates seriously thinks there is a remote possibility that U.S. troops levels can be decreased later this year? They will be INCREASED later this year! I'm sick of damn liars!
Gates will clearly recommend escalating U.S. troop level when the current surge option fails, and Gen. Pace is already fingering Iran (see paragraph in bold in article quoted below).
Note the final paragraph. Gates is already planning for what will occur beyond Baghdad. "It is not the last chance", Gates replied to Sen. John Warner. So we are already looking as another change of tactics, another "review", another "new" strategy, and another escalation of this war later this year.
McCain will campaign on winning the war, and Democrats will promise to stop the war. All the while Americans will hemorrhage blood and red ink toward no good end.
Pentagon could boost Iraq troop increase by 3,000 [Reuters] Tue Feb 6, 10:59 AM ET
Gates hopeful for 2007 troop withdrawal
quote:
By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
1:13 pm EST Tuesday 06 February 2007
Defense Secretary Robert Gates held out hope Tuesday that U.S. forces might be able to start leaving Iraq before the end of the year, if daunting conditions including subdued violence and political reconciliation are met.
Gates told lawmakers the current buildup of forces by 21,500 troops is "not the last chance" to succeed in Iraq and conceded that he's considering what steps to take if it doesn't work.
"I would be irresponsible if I weren't thinking about what the alternatives might be," Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
But he asserted, "We at this point are planning for success," and he described in sketchy form what could bring about the beginning of a withdrawal.
"It seems to me that if the plan to quiet Baghdad is successful and the Iraqis step up" by providing promised forces of their own and move toward resolving the country's bitter political disputes, Gates said, "I would hope that we would be able to begin drawing down our troops later this year."
Gates said last month that the troop increase seems likely to last months, not years. The outgoing top general in Iraq, George Casey, has said he hoped some of the extra troops could start returning home by late summer.
Gates was grilled on the war as the full Senate remained stalled on debating a resolution that would join most Democrats and some Republicans in a stinging critique of President Bush's course in Iraq.
His testimony came, too, with U.S. and Iraqi forces on the verge of opening their campaign to subdue the insurgency in Baghdad. Gates said the operation was to have started on Monday but "it's probably going to slip a few days, and it's probably going to be a rolling implementation."
Gates did not say what other options he was considering if the addition of U.S. forces fails to control the violence in Baghdad and western Anbar province, where the Sunni insurgency is based. But he and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sought to assure lawmakers that the additional troops pegged for Iraq will go there with sufficient equipment for the fight.
They said that a shortage of armored vehicles in one phase of operations will be remedied by July, and troops who need them will not be deployed from their compound in Iraq until the vehicles are supplied.
Pace said the number of ammunition-packed roadside bombs encountered by U.S. forces has doubled in a year, and these weapons now include a deadlier version coming from Iran.
Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia pressed Gates on the question of what happens if Bush's plan doesn't work. "I have to believe we're thinking beyond the Baghdad operation," the senator said.
"It is not the last chance," Gates replied.
~~~snip~~~
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Faire l'amour, pas la guerre
Make love not war
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