| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
20 Sep 2006 07:55:30 AM |
| Object: |
U.S, Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan under great stress |
Even now, active-duty Army brigades are cycling in and out of Iraq and
Afghanistan at a faster pace than the goal of one year deployed for
every two years at home.
That puts a great deal of stress on the soldiers and their families.
"I don't know how long" that can go on, a senior defense official said
in an interview this week.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of
the problem, which is being discussed behind closed doors.
The official likened the earlier troop-reduction plan for Iraq to the
situation facing a soldier traveling down a road with a map that does
not match the terrain he's seeing:
The soldier has to deal with the terrain as it actually exists.
For the U.S. military, the road in Iraq has gotten rockier rather
suddenly.
An indication of that was the decision to extend the yearlong tour of
duty for the Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade;
some of the unit's soldiers had already left Iraq -- and families had
already hung welcome home banners around the 172nd's main base in
Alaska -- when the decision to extend their tour by four months was
announced in late July.
From The Associated Press, 9/20/06:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq
Pentagon faces tough choices on Iraq
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON -
The dimming outlook for significant U.S. troop cuts in Iraq means the
Pentagon may soon face a difficult and politically sensitive decision:
either make more frequent call-ups of some National Guard and Reserve
troops or expand still further the size of the active-duty Army,
defense officials say.
That choice, already under discussion but with no timetable for
decision, is looming in light of the fact that the simultaneous wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan have put the Army under enormous strain.
In particular, active-duty soldiers are not getting the desired
minimum of two years at home between combat deployments.
__________________________________________________________
"I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency."
Chickenhawk Cheney on Larry King, 6/20/05
2,688 American troops are dead, 20,322 have been wounded, tens of
thousands of innocent Iraqis are dead and wounded in deranged Bush's
insane "war".
Harry
Read about your Deserter-In-Chief running from the Vietnam
War
http://www.glcq.com
.
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