Pentagon struggles to find fresh troops
Pentagon struggles to find fresh troops

(AP) WASHINGTON - 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.

Final decisions — which have not yet been made — would come as Congress is considering ways to force President Bush to wind down the war, despite his vow that he would veto such legislation.

In the freshest indication of the relentless demands for troops in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of coalition forces in the north, told reporters Friday that his troops have picked up the pace of their attacks on the enemy in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

“Could I use more forces? No question about it,” Mixon said, adding that he had asked for more.

Now, I got this off the freerepublic website, and the responses are below:

To: leadpenny

The Associated (with terrorists) Press is up early tearing down our military, I see.

3 posted on 03/10/2007 3:55:19 AM PST by prairiebreeze (I am PRO-VICTORY!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
To: prairiebreeze

You want what . . . more smoke and mirrors?

To: pr

Perhaps….but the idea we started out with that a guy could come back after a year and have 18 months to recover and chill…is gone. We are having guys prep up pretty soon for their fourth tour. I met folks in the last three months who wrapped up their 3rd tour. Talk to any Vietnam viet…who did two tours in a combat zone…and they will tell of the stress. We are taking our human assets and pushing them to the max. Add to that mixture is the election coming up and this “timeline” game. If it wasn’t a no-win situation before….we’re slowly drafting that way now.

(love the use of the word “drafting” )
Then there is this person - may I ingest what he’s ingested?
In case you have not noticed, Iraq is turning around and we are winning. The media will not herald it, but it is the truth nonetheless.

VICTORY will bring much needed rest… the way it ALWAYS has. GOD bless our HEROES and GOD bless the CiC!

BTW, I think we should increase the size and scope of our Military by properly funding ALL of it… all Volunteer!

LLS

The one heartbreaking post is this:

My wife has a co-worker whose husband is a reservist. He will finish his third tour later this years. He will have finished his enlistment next January. She has already told him that he has a choice her and their kids.or reenlistment. The kids are 6 and 4, they do not remember daddy.