Major Rearrangement of U.S. Forces in Iraq to Deal With Holes in Coalition

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA3XG6UATD.html

Major Rearrangement of U.S. Forces in Iraq to Deal With Holes in Coalition, Shifting Violence

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - With the coalition fraying and guerrilla violence spreading, the latest job for the U.S. military in Iraq appears to be patching holes - like those left by the impending withdrawal of Spanish, Honduran and Dominican troops.

The military here is in the midst of a serious reorganization, shifting and swapping troops to cope with simultaneous crises in the south - where some coalition partners have balked at clashing with rebellious Shiites - and in the west, where a standoff in Fallujah has drained troops from elsewhere.

The rearranging could mean a continued, large U.S. military presence in the south, where the United States had handed security duties to its allies. The coalition partners signed on believing they were patrolling a peaceful region, a situation that has dramatically changed.

The Dominican Republic was the latest planned withdrawal, announcing Tuesday night it would pull its 302 troops out of Iraq within several weeks. Honduran and Domincan forces have been serving under a Spanish-led brigade since August.

more

[Hobarticus]

1. Stretched too thin as it...

Swallow our pride, call in the guys in the Smurf hats (UN) NOW, or bring 'em home.

[saigon68]

2. The rest of the reserves called up SOON

retrained as MP's in as little as 2 months.

All combat units rotated from Korea etc.

Then the DRAFT. at least 500,000-- Then in about 2006 WOLFIE can realize his big wet dream.. SYRIA GONE--- IRAN GONE-- THE OIL OURS.

[Hobarticus]

4. This is SNAFU, saigon68...

America's wake up call is NOW!!!

[brokensymmetry]

8. Seriously? Do you really think so?

And how confident are you in your predictions?

[saigon68]

20. Just my ravings

Been right on a couple of things.

I said war was immoral and unjust.

I said there were no weapons on mass destruction.

I called it Iraq-Nam in March 2003

I said Cheney's company would hire lots of civilians.

I said these people would not throw flowers.

I said a draft would start

I compared the resistance forces to those in WW 2 against the Nazi's.

Its all out there now Hagle is putting trial balloons out for the Chimp on the draft.

[brokensymmetry]

21. Looks like a pretty good track record.

:scared:

[seemslikeadream]

36. We're pumped to pump Iraq

[Jacobin]

25. Actually its all spelled out

in the PNAC documents authored by Wolfowitz, Perle, William Kristol, Rumsfeld, et al in the 1990's. The invasion of the middle east states, that is, not the fact that the "project" is doomed to fail.

[BrotherBuzz]

3. Fungible

[alcuno]

5. Remember when Poland was going to be in charge of Baghdad?

And I think that whole "Sunni Triangle" region. 1/3 of the country.

[Hobarticus]

6. Oh yes, the way was going to be paved with rose petals...

...and everyone was going to get a tax cut and a pony.

[cap]

17. the corporatons got a tax cut in Iraq

tax rate is 15%. No wonder there aren't too many rose petals.

[Mari333]

7. US troops have GOT to know the coalitions

are pulling out. The scuttlebutt is rampant in the military..their morale will go straight to hell now, and they will go even more crazy..this bodes very badly. very very badly.
bring the troops home now
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

[NNN0LHI]

9. I have been told that bad news travels fast in the military

So I would imagine that all our troops know what is going on by now.

Don

[brokensymmetry]

10. Since you've got some insights the rest of us don't -

are things as bad over there as they seem to be?

[liquidstealth]

11. Unilateral?

I thought that many here have indicated the US is acting unilaterally. Why the sudden concern now the coalition changes are taking place? If as many here in these threads have argued that the US is acting unilaterally...why now threads about re-arrangements to the coalition?

Previously only France and Russian counted...and Spain did not. Now of course that Spain is pulling out...it is a setback?

So is the US acting unilaterally or not?

[AZCat]

12. As I understand it...

Even though these forces are part of the coalition, their presence does not give the parent country any say in the behavior of the coalition, hence the charge of unilateral action on the part of the U.S.

Now that these troops are being removed, that leaves the remaining coalition with two choices:
1) Produce troops from somewhere to replace the ones removed

2) Shift tactics to work with a smaller force in Iraq

Both these are problematice, IMHO.
1) This means more U.S. troops, and we don't want that.

2) This means more 'force projection', which generally means more civilian casualties in an occupied country.

[daleo]

13. Bush made a big deal about coalition partners, for the political impact

The numbers were not very big (except the U.K.) but he talked it up, to make it seem like a big joint world effort. Now, he will be taking the hit when things go in reverse - the number of troops being lost may not be great, but the political hit is very great.

Around here, people's concern is that this just proves how stupid the whole venture was - Bushco made a big deal about a phony coalition, then it fell apart (or is in the process of doing so), as we all thought it would.

[AZCat]

14. Good point about political hit of things going in reverse

I like that.

It's even more magnified an effect when a country like Honduras has a specific gripe (Negroponte) because it underlines (IMHO) how arrogant/naive the Bush* Administration is.

[Jacobin]

26. Um, excuse me

But other than Britain, the "coalition" forces consist mostly of a few rag tag mercenary soldiers from countries who we bribed to send in soldiers as a fig leaf to make it look to easily deluded Bush* supporters like a "multi lateral"operation.

The impact on the ground in terms of lost soldiers will be minimal from the pull out. The impact on our soldiers, who understand better than anyone else can that this invasion is a sick joke and cannot be won, is a psychological one.....sane countries pulling out leaving them there with no end in sight.

[Mari333]

37. well, Michael emailed us last week

havent heard from him since then. He told us they are playing videos over and over and over and over again to the troops of "saddams statue being toppled" , evidently to brainwash them into thinking they are there for some reason.
Michael is too smart for that, he knows its bullshit. Im sure many of the other guys in his unit do too. The only solace I have is that he has some friends who he must have gotten close to, an extended family of sorts, who he can rely on.
thats where its at now anyway.
when he emails again, Ill let people know what he says. Its maddening when he doesnt email.

[Nihil]

15. Who's left?

Apart from the British (and Australian?) troops, who is actually left
in the "coalition of the willing"? (i.e., not just present but intending
to remain for more than a few weeks)

Nihil

[Jacobin]

27. I believe Eritria is holding fast

Don't they have two dozen chefs in country?

[Nihil]

32. Oh irony ...

... Eritria, land of the recurring famine, is supplying chefs?!?!

Lewis Carroll really did describe the current "reality" quite well at times.

[Dead_Parrot]

34. I belive Moldova's

24 soldiers are hangin' tough.

[radfringe]

16. Republican senator:Bring back the draft

Republican senator:Bring back the draft
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38139
Nebraska's Chuck Hagel says 'all of our citizens' should 'pay some price' for U.S. Iraqi operation

A Republican U.S. senator is calling for a return of the military draft so the cost of the Iraq operation could be borne by people of all economic strata.

Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on post-occupation Iraq, Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said, "There's not an American ... that doesn't understand what we are engaged in today and what the prospects are for the future."

Hagel, a member of the committee, says all Americans should be involved in the effort.

"Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?" Hagel said, arguing that restoring the draft would force "our citizens to understand the intensity and depth of challenges we face."

The senator also argued re-instituting the draft, which ended in the early '70s, would cause the burden of military service to be spread among all economic classes of people.

[SoCalDem]

18. hmmmm.. Titanic...deck chairs... need I say more ??

:(

[Dead_Parrot]

19. Coalition of the vanishing...

A list from http://www.geocities.com/pwhce/willing.html#othermaps
#Indicates a country that has announced a pull-out.
Counting on my toes, the retractions leave a hole of 4,500 troops - Haven't checked the figures, though... Edited for layout.

Coalition of the Dying (500+ troops):
United States of America, 130,000
United Kingdom, 9,000
Italy, 3,000
#Poland, 2,460
Ukraine, 1,600
#Spain, 1,300
Netherlands, 1,100
Australia, 800
Romania, 700

Coalition of the Token Effort (<500 troops):
Portugal
Denmark
Norway
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Hungary
Albania
Macedonia
Bulgaria
Turkey
Japan
Philippines
Afghanistan
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Marshall Islands
Moldova
Mongolia
Palau
Thailand
#Dominican Republic
#Honduras
#New Zealand
Kuwait

Coalition of the not-there (no troops in Iraq):
Iceland
Croatia
Slovenia
South Korea
Singapore
Micronesia
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Colombia
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Uganda
Rwanda
Angola

[chenGOD]

22. South Korea does actually have troops in Iraq.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030402-045257-5687r

check the date. They are there. They will be sending 3000 in June (although it might come under review)

[Dead_Parrot]

28. Perfectly true...

And I did know that. Sigh... So much for a rush job!

[chenGOD]

38. Actually it was a great help...

i read an article in the Korea Herald the other day that said there were 38 countries in the "coalition of the billing" and I was very confused. "38!!?" I thought..."that can't be right".

I hope like crazy that South Korea will follow Spain's lead and pull out the troops they have in Iraq (even though they are all engineering/medical troops), and not continue with the plan to send more. Am not holding my breath though.

[July]

24. More from Daily Kos

www.dailykos.com had a piece on this yesterday, with links.

According to Kos:

New Zealand. Prime Minister says their engineers are confined to base, and if they are confined for week after week, they will have to question why they are there.

Philippines. Not deploying new troops, staying in camps, thinking about evacuation plan. About half of original 96 people (humanitarian work) have returned from Iraq.

Thailand. May withdraw sooner than planned after 6/30, because of violence. 443 Thai troops on humanitarian mission.

Bulgaria. Permitting anyone who asks to return home. So far 62 out of 480 have quit.

El Salvador. No plans to withdraw, but govt. faces a hostile legislature.

Australia. Troops in Iraq an election issue (opposition opposes).

Don't see El Salvador on Dead Parrot's list. Did I get this right?

[Dead_Parrot]

29. Thanks July...

...I'll do a more acurate version for next annoucement (I'm sure it won't be long!)

NZ - "Home by Christmas"
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1079744.htm

El Sal. were there - I must have deleted them on the edit. My bad...

In related news...
Nicaragua did go, but have already pulled out: The same goes for Singapore, which I missed completley.

I've also just noticed the list includes Afghanistan - Something of a puzzler, I wasn't aware they had an army at the moment... Anyone shed any light on that?

[July]

30. You're welcome, DP. Seems as if it's changing every day.

Keep us informed, please. I'll keep my eye out, too.

[Nihil]

31. Don't you ever listen to Georgie boy?

> I've also just noticed the list includes Afghanistan - Something of a
> puzzler, I wasn't aware they had an army at the moment... Anyone shed
> any light on that?

How else did Al-Qaeda get into Iraq?

[Dead_Parrot]

33. LOL... n/t

[Judi Lynn]

23. Pentagon plans for possible troop increase in Iraq

Pentagon plans for possible troop increase in Iraq
Some units may be able to go there 'immediately'
By Craig Gordon
Newsday
Originally published April 21, 2004
WASHINGTON - Top Pentagon officials are drawing up plans in case the United States needs to increase U.S. troops in Iraq beyond the 135,000 there now, identifying units that could go "essentially immediately," the nation's top uniformed officer said.
Any increase would be in addition to the 20,000 soldiers already in Iraq who were ordered last week to put off their departures an additional 90 days amid the post-war period's bloodiest month for Americans.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made clear yesterday that the Pentagon is making preparations not merely for possibly holding over more troops already in Iraq but adding to the total U.S. forces on the ground.

That has been a politically contentious issue that Rumsfeld and others in the Bush administration have resisted fiercely, despite calls from many in Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, to send in more troops to put down anti-American violence that has killed 100 U.S. troops this month.
(snip/...)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.baghdad21apr21001645,0,4495571.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

[nolabels]

35. U.S. Forces need Major Rearrangement of * to deal with hole in head

make bush go away
he is intolerable
give what you can. its worth it!


http://www.johnkerry.com/