Ask Yourself Why They Lie
by Steven D
Sat Jun 28th, 2008 at 11:07:20 AM EST
Raw Story (via the AP) is reporting that the Pentagon will order that 30,000 troops be sent to Iraq in early 2009 to ensure we maintain 15 combat brigades there through the end of next year.
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is preparing to order roughly 30,000 troops to Iraq early next year in a move that would allow the U.S. to maintain 15 combat brigades in the country through 2009, The Associated Press has learned. <...>
Overall, there are about 146,000 forces in Iraq, and that number is expected to dip to about 142,000 by mid-July when that last unit is all out. That total is at least 7,000 more than the number of troops in Iraq before the buildup began early last year.
Of course, this is the opposite of what CENTCOM Commander General Petraeus told Congress in May, when he suggested that he was "likely" to recommend further troop withdrawals from Iraq by the end of 2008.
So, in essence, one month after telling Congress further reductions were likely, Petraeus, despite the urgent needs we have in Afghanistan, and the so-called success of the "Surge" (if you can call this a success) has determined that we will need to maintain more troops in Iraq through the end of 2009 (the first year of the first term of the next President) than we had there before the Surge was implemented in 2007. How quickly things change. Remember last year this time when the press was reporting that the only issue our military leaders had among themselves was over the extent of the troop withdrawals that could be made post-surge?
more...
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2008/6/28/11720/1400
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