Pentagon struggles to find fresh troops (AP)

[Eugene]

Pentagon struggles to find fresh troops
Military Leaders Struggle to Find Ways of Keeping Up to
20 Brigade Combat Teams in Iraq

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON Mar 10, 2007 (AP)— Military leaders are struggling to choose Army units
to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan longer or go there earlier than planned, but five years
of war have made fresh troops harder to find.

Faced with a military buildup in Iraq that could drag into next year, Pentagon officials
are trying to identify enough units to keep up to 20 brigade combat teams in Iraq.
A brigade usually has about 3,500 troops.

The likely result will be extending the deployments of brigades scheduled to come
home at the end of the summer, and sending others earlier than scheduled.

-snip-

One official said planners are scrambling to figure out what combination of units and
schedules can be fashioned that could give Petraeus what he wants and have the
least negative impact on the troops.

The complex scheduling must identify which units would have been home for 12
months and be trained and ready to go, plus whether the needed equipment would
be available and what impact a schedule change has on other plans for the
equipment or troops months down the road.

-snip-

Full article: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2940434

[onethatcares]

1. anyone else feel the beginning of a breeze?

wait til some rotate out and refuse to go back. Seems there are more and more of them. Another thing, everything is based on securing Baghdad, I realize our embassy is there, the green zone etc, but what about the rest of the country?

[Nickster]

2. It's called lowering expectations. The "liberal" media has allowed them to get

away with it too. Once it was about freeing all of Iraq, now it is just about securing Baghdad, because they have a better shot at pulling that off. So if they can wall off Baghdad and keep it relatively violence free, then they can declare victory.