Pentagon Extends Iraq Tours for 2,200 Marines

[babylonsister]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/072007S.shtml

Pentagon Extends Iraq Tours for 2,200 Marines
Reuters

Thursday 19 July 2007

The Pentagon has extended the combat tours of 2,200 Marines in Iraq for 30 days, keeping the troops on the ground to help stabilize Anbar province, a Marine Corps spokesman said on Thursday.

The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is conducting counterinsurgency operations in Iraq's western province, will stay until at least the end of September, under the extension.

"It's to contribute to stability operations," said Maj. Jay Delarosa, who called the extension typical.

"The bottom line is if they're extended another month, that's when you kind of have to be concerned," Delarosa said.

The United States has boosted force levels to about 158,000 troops under a plan aimed at establishing enough security to allow progress on political benchmarks seen by Washington as critical to long-term stability in Iraq.

The Pentagon is due to provide a progress report on the so-called surge in September. While an increasing number of lawmakers are calling for a strategy shift in Iraq, some commanders have urged for more time beyond the September assessment.

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[w8liftinglady]

1. that is just fucking bullshit.How many times have these guys already been there?

[shadowknows69]

3. Even worse

how many might die or be injured, when they should have been home. Ask the 3rdBCT out of Ft. Drum and The Stryker Brigade they extended from Alaska how they feel about these extensions.

[MetaTrope]

2. So, this counterinsurgency unit won't be on call when the next Reichstag happens?

Wonder who determines the loyalty and all.

[billyoc]

4. Semper Bellum

[BrotherBuzz]

5. This is a bogus story! Lindsey Graham told me just the other day everything was honky-dory there

Graham Defends Military Surge in Iraq Despite Calls for Pullout

A series of conversations about what may happen in Iraq after U.S. troops leave continues with Senate Armed Services Committee member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who supports President Bush's policy of troop buildup in Iraq.

Originally Aired: July 17, 2007

<snip>

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well, let me tell you about Anbar. I think Anbar is probably the model that we can all judge time by. The old strategy of fighting behind walls and just training the Iraqi military and police and not getting involved in the community militarily, politically and economically failed. Anbar six months ago was a part of Iraq that no one could visit, because al-Qaida had basically taken over the Sunni part of Iraq, called Anbar province.

With the surge, with additional combat capability, al-Qaida has been pushed out of Anbar, and the ones who lived under al-Qaida in Anbar have aligned themselves with us. The biggest change in Iraq since the surge began is this new political and economic and military alliance, where al-Qaida has been rejected by the local population, and the local population sided with us.

And here is the one number that gives me hope: the number of attacks in Ramadi this year are half of what they were last year. In all of 2006, 1,000 people joined the Iraqi police force in Anbar province; this year, 12,000 have joined the local police.

The Sunni sheikhs who broke with al-Qaida and joined us put out a call for the sons of Anbar to join the police force. That police force is 12 times larger than it was before. So we can leave Anbar, I think sooner rather than later, because the local police and the Iraqi army can hold.

<more>

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec07/iraq_07-17.html

[babylonsister]

6. I see you picked up on that.

:rofl: I guess it depends on who you, or anyone, believes.

[BrotherBuzz]

8. I realize Lindsey Graham isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer....

even on his best day, but why would he lie? :rofl:

[karlrschneider]

7. That silly little shit wouldn't know an Anbar from a Titty bar.

:puke:

[BrotherBuzz]

9. I think the numb-nuts was in a Green Zone titty bar and overheard...

some very sarcastic shit talk from real soldiers and Marines just in from the Anbar province to blow off steam and swap war stories. He believed the shit he was hearing, and now is regurgitating it as Gospel.