The Troops Are Coming Home!

[LBIggle]

well some of them..

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051223/ap_on_re_mi_ea/rumsfeld

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Just days after     Iraq's elections, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Friday announced the first of what is likely to be a series of U.S. combat troop drawdowns in Iraq in 2006.

Rumsfeld, addressing U.S. troops at this former insurgent stronghold, said     President Bush has authorized new cuts below the 138,000 level that has prevailed for most of this year.

Rumsfeld did not reveal the exact size of the troop cut, but     Pentagon officials have said it could be as much as 7,000 combat troops. The Pentagon has not announced a timetable for troop reductions, but indications are that the force could be cut significantly by the end of 2006.

That could include substantial reductions well before the November midterm congressional elections, in which Bush's war policies seem certain to be a major issue.

Rumsfeld said two Army brigades that had been scheduled for combat tours — one from Fort Riley, Kan., the other now in Kuwait — would no longer deploy to Iraq. That would reduce the number of combat brigades in Iraq from 17 to 15.

"The effect of these adjustments will reduce forces in Iraq by the spring of 2006 below the current high of 160,000 during the (Iraqi) election period to below the 138,000 baseline that had existed before the most recent elections," the defense secretary said.

Rumsfeld aides said details were to be provided later at the Pentagon.

Further reductions will be considered "at some point in 2006," after the new Iraqi government is in place and is prepared to discuss the future U.S. military presence, Rumsfeld added.

The Pentagon sent an extra 20,000 troops to Iraq to bolster security during the recent elections, and Rumsfeld has previously said those 20,000 would be withdrawn in January to return U.S. force levels to a 138,000 baseline.

Friday's announcement marks the first time Rumsfeld has said troop levels will dip below that baseline.

Rumsfeld, who has said repeatedly that troop reductions depend on political progress in Iraq and improvements in Iraq's own security forces, was meeting with U.S. troops in several locations Friday. He arrived in the country Thursday for his 11th visit since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Bush is under growing pressure from the Republican-run Congress to cut U.S. forces in Iraq. The conflict's acceptance by American voters has plummeted as the war's toll has mounted to more than 2,100 U.S. war dead and 15,000 wounded.

Bush, Rumsfeld and other administration officials have said a withdrawal would begin when the U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces show sufficient signs of being able to defend the country against insurgents.

There were 159,000 U.S. troops in Iraq on Thursday.

Iraq on Oct. 15 held a constitutional referendum, and on Dec. 15 held elections for a full-term government.

For the first time since the insurgency took hold in Iraq in midsummer 2003, Rumsfeld was spending the night in the country. He previously had made Iraq day trips but spent the night in other countries in the region.

In     Afghanistan earlier Thursday, military officials said they were progressing toward eliminating the Taliban resistance and al-Qaida terrorists who continue sporadic violence against U.S. troops.

But some officers said the hostile forces were making gains by acquiring more advanced weaponry, such as armor-piercing munitions, and improving their training and organization.

Asked whether conditions in southern Afghanistan are more dangerous than earlier in the conflict, Capt. Matthew Harmon, commander of headquarters company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, said in an interview, "That's a very fair assessment." Harmon is serving his fourth tour in Afghanistan.

Capt. Chris Sample said the 1st Battalion had engaged in 88 firefights in the past six months. That is more than in its three previous Afghanistan deployments combined, he said. There also has been a recent increase in vehicle-borne suicide bombers, he said.

its a start at least.  hopefully this isn't just temporary until he decides to invade syria.  i think its about time the security forces handle their own problems.  our troops aren't police officers.  they did what they had to do now time to get out.  from what i understand, alot of the security forces are suspected of participating in actions against US forces anyway.. so farg em. and make em pay back all the loot it cost to free their asses too.  hand some of that oil over.

[methdeez]

hopefully this isn't just temporary until he decides to invade syria. 

I think that was the plan before everything went to shtein, when they actually thought we would be greeted with parades and roses after bombing the hell out of the country.

[fansince61]

hopefully this isn't just temporary until he decides to invade syria. 

I think that was the plan before everything went to shtein, when they actually thought we would be greeted with parades and roses after bombing the hell out of the country.

Politics aside... this war has been very difficult for all the troops.  Families have had to adjust with the fear of losing a loved one while adapting to their absence..then the trooper comes home and the family has to readjust only to have him/her leave again because so many have to serve multiple tours..about 25% of RVN soldiers were married compared to about 50% now...a toll that goes unmentioned in the stats

[LBIggle]

yah, they were hoping for another gulf war.. instead they have another vietnam brewing on their hands. i  really hope this deters him from any more military action.  im not saying we shouldn't be over there, but we shouldn't be over there with a clown in office who obviously mumbles and bumbles through every major decision thrown his way.

[DutchBird]

Politics aside... this war has been very difficult for all the troops.  Families have had to adjust with the fear of losing a loved one while adapting to their absence..then the trooper comes home and the family has to readjust only to have him/her leave again because so many have to serve multiple tours..about 25% of RVN soldiers were married compared to about 50% now...a toll that goes unmentioned in the stats

This is the real problem... combined with the soldiers returning with traumas and the like. They tend to remain unmentioned... just as they have been over here with the soldiers returning from Srebrenica. They have been largely ignored a few moonths afterwards...

[Phanatic]

As I see it there was a reason Busch Sr. din't go in there and finish the job....

[methdeez]

hopefully this isn't just temporary until he decides to invade syria. 

I think that was the plan before everything went to shtein, when they actually thought we would be greeted with parades and roses after bombing the hell out of the country.

Politics aside... this war has been very difficult for all the troops.  Families have had to adjust with the fear of losing a loved one while adapting to their absence..then the trooper comes home and the family has to readjust only to have him/her leave again because so many have to serve multiple tours..about 25% of RVN soldiers were married compared to about 50% now...a toll that goes unmentioned in the stats

By they, I meant the numbnut politico's in charge. Who ignored the State Dept. and the CIA and cobbled toghether thier own justification.
As far as the soldiers are concerned, that's always the saddest part. No matter what, they get screwed.

Of course, the conservatives scream that anyone who questions any aspect of the war, in any way is against the troops and is anti-american. Meanwhile, Bush cuts veteran health benefits, soldiers don't have armour, but Halliburton/Brown&Root/Betchel have $50 Billion in non-competitve contracts and Bush has a $100 million inaguration party.

How many Troop Transports could we have armoured for that $100 million?

1 bunch of non-military, service-avoiding rich boys making military decisions while overriding or ignoring professionals in intelligence and the military = dead soldiers.

[Diomedes]

The troops sure are coming home.  Dead and maimed.

from the article that was referenced when this thread was started 9 months ago:

In Afghanistan earlier Thursday, military officials said they were progressing toward eliminating the Taliban resistance and al-Qaida terrorists who continue sporadic violence against U.S. troops.

We all know that was bullshtein PR, like most everything else "military officials" feed us.  These days, almost no one disputes that the Taliban are enjoying a broadly supported resurgence in Afghanistan; they are far from defeated.  In fact, it's the U.S. who are on the losing side of this war.  5 years since 9/11 and the greatest military power on earth has neither defeated the people who hosted its greatest enemy, nor even captured/killed him.

Now comes news that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) thinks the Taliban ought to be brought into the fold of government in Afghanistan:

"You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government," Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. "And if that's accomplished, we'll be successful."

What is the reasoning here?  Since the U.S. hasn't been able to win the war in Afghanistan, we should entice the enemy with overtures of inclusion?  Even the most liberal Dems haven't suggested we have tea with the Taliban.

The Taliban openly hosted bin Ladin.  bin Ladin attacked the U.S.  Not Iraq, not Saddam, not the throngs of terrorists born of the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.  BIN LADIN, aided by the TALIBAN.

I'm no war monger, but if anyone outside of Bin Ladin and his gang deserve a stead diet of bullet sandwiches, it's the Taliban.

What the farg are the Republicans thinking?

link

[rjs246]

The Taliban is full of complete whack jobs. Any way you slice it, they should be eliminated, not encouraged to be part of any government.

[Drunkmasterflex]

The Taliban is full of complete whack jobs. Any way you slice it, they should be eliminated, not encouraged to be part of any government.

Couldn't agree more.

[Diomedes]

How is what Frist is suggesting here not appeasing the terrorists?   He and his party of shteinheads claim liberals want to invite them onto Oprah, without giving any evidence to support the claim, and now he propsoses this??

I don't get it.

[SD_Eagle5]

The Taliban is good for the economy

[Diomedes]

Opiates are helluva drugs.

[General_Failure]

Opium lobbyists were working hard this week.

[MDS]