LAT: Rumsfeld: Iraq Withdrawal Up to Commanders

[DeepModem Mom]

Rumsfeld: Iraq Withdrawal Up to Commanders


WASHINGTON -- While some lawmakers press for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made no promises on Sunday and said commanders' assessments will determine the pace of any military drawdown.

About 160,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq as the country approaches elections Dec. 15. The Pentagon has said it plans to scale back troop strength to its pre-election baseline of 138,000, depending on conditions.

Rumsfeld said the U.S.-led coalition continues to make progress in training Iraqi security forces, which he placed at 212,000.

Rumsfeld disputed reports that fewer than 1,000 Iraqis were capable of fighting the insurgency without coalition assistance, saying the lower number was "a red herring."...

***

Rumsfeld suggested that talk of withdrawal tells insurgents that "if they wait, they prevail, and they'll be able to turn that country into a haven for terrorism." U.S. troops, he said, believe they are making progress in a noble cause in which the U.S. will prevail....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top12nov20,0,2344691.story

[gizmo1979]

1. Murtha says troops

will be out by election day 2006.

[lebkuchen]

11. That's a hell of a lot of dead bodies up till Nov. 2006

not to mention serious injuries, broken marriages, psychological problems, and increase in unemployment stats.

[Lindsay]

2. Just like it was up to the commanders

to ask for more troops. Of course, if they asked for more troops, they were likely to be retired....

[Catch22Dem]

3. Why? Nothing up to this point has been up to the commanders!

Why would this be any different?

[tabasco]

4. How nice that all the top commanders are hand-picked yes-men.

Any top generals with moral courage were done away with by the corporate cabal.

General Shinseki, for example. There were many others.

Only yes-men like Pete Pace need apply for jobs with Bu$hCo.

I know there are still thousands of officers loyal to the Nation.

It is time for them all to speak out against this endless quagmire in Iraq.

The corporate cabal let the real enemy get away and every American should be outraged.

[Rose Siding]

5. Even if they weren't bush-bots,

now it looks like the govt has turned foreign policy over to the military. Let them decide?

Our military can do all sorts of things it would be, um, unwise to allow them to do.

[northzax]

6. with all due respect, Mr. Secretary, no it isn't.

the Military does not make policy decisions in this country, the civilian leadership does. The Constitution, in one of the most brilliant things the authors did, places control of the military firmly in the hands of the civilian leadership of the United States. The Chain of Command doesn't even go through the Joint Chiefs, the buck goes from your office to 1600 Pennsylvania.

I repeat, the military is a tool of the civilian government, not the other way around. I thought these people were strict constructionists?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

7. Just ONE commander is responsible for the order to withdraw

The Commander In Chief

[pushycat]

8. Rumsfled is such a coward (sp intentional)

[cliss]

9. Ever notice the tired look on Rumsfailed's face lately?

There's a reason for that. Rumour has it that we're not going to prevail in Iraq. At this point, they are just trying to figure out how to lose gracefully.

And not lose those 14 bases. You don't have to be a CPA to realize we're hemorrhaging to death financially. It's simply unsustainable to keep spending that much money over a long period of time. It was only supposed to be for the initial occupation. They didn't think it was going to cost this much or last this long.

They still want Iraq. Oh, they want it so badly they lay in bed at night, clutching a map of the country and weep. But it's slipping away from them, every night it slips further away.

[badgervan]

10. Rummy Lies

What utter horseshit. This fiasco has been a politically driven and controlled war from the get-go, and for anyone to believe that the cabal running this massive f-up would allow the generals to control our exit, I have some nice beachfront property in the Aleutians to show you.
Rummy, Cheney, Rove, little bush - when push comes to shove, all of these pampered and self-loving pukes are nothing but cowards. To act responsibly, to study different exit plans, to look out for the troops and get them home asap - does anyone actually believe that any of our "leaders" would bring themselves to do the right thing - if it screwed up their plans for middle eastern domination and control of the local oil?
I only hope that the 20% of us in the middle politically remember all of this crap come November, 2006.

[Uncle Roy]

12. Anyone actually read the article? "Biden:Chance of Alito Filibuster High"

As for whatever it was that Rumsfeld said, I kinda doubt he meant that the policy decision to withdraw would be left to the commanders in the field. Does anyone seriously believe that?

[applegrove]

13. Really? How bout sending them the 250,000 troops they asked for

to start with?