Memorial Day Hangover: More Troops to Iraq

  • Posted by Eric
  • May 30, 2006

The New York Times is reporting that more troops will be sent into Iraq via Kuwait:

WASHINGTON, May 29 — The top American commander in Iraq has decided to move reserve troops now deployed in Kuwait into the volatile Anbar Province in western Iraq to help quell a rise in insurgent attacks there, two American officials said Monday.

Although some soldiers from the 3,500-member brigade in Kuwait have moved into Iraq in recent months, Gen. George W. Casey Jr. has decided to send in the remainder of the unit after consultations with Iraqi officials in recent days, the officials said.

The confirmation that the number of American forces in Iraq would grow came on a day of soaring violence in Baghdad. Two Britons working as members of a CBS News television crew were killed on Monday and an American correspondent for the network was critically wounded when a military patrol they were accompanying was hit by a roadside bomb.

The movement of the brigade comes as several senior American officials in Iraq have begun to raise doubts about whether security conditions there will permit significant troop reductions in coming months.

Great. We honor you by sending more of you into the abyss. Lovely. I’d love to hear Mr. Tiberi’s position on this one. Probably something that includes the moronic phrase “stand up so we can stand down”. They remain hopeful that they can cut levels by 25%? With this type of thinking, not likely. They’ll be plugging human gaps in the dike for years to come, you can bet. Or, no, up until like November or something. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

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May 30th, 2006
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
YellowDogSammy
Posted on:
May 30, 2006 at 2:13 pm

Wouldn’t want to question troop deployments, oh no, that would be unpatriotic! Must “support our troops,” whether they’re heading into battle or returning as casualties.

WB, Eric!

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Roldo Bartimole
Posted on:
May 30, 2006 at 2:26 pm

First, it’s good to have you back. My best wishes for your wife’s quick recovery.

That said, there was a great piece on, I think, American Experience,” on public TV last night. It went back and forth on two Vietnam war fronts, one an ambush attack in Vietnam by the Vietcong and the other a peaceful demonstration at the U of Wisconsin made violent by police. It was amazingly well done with the reporting involving participants on both sides - U. S. vets and Cong vets, students and police -interviewed years after. One thing that struck me was a Vietnamese farmer, formerly a Cong, who said he went back to the place of the ambush and saw the U. S. dead soldier. He said something like, “They were so big. Their thighs were as large as we were. Why did the come here?” He couldn’t understand. The war went on eight years beyond the time when U. S. leaders knew we couldn’t win.

The same is now true in Iraq. And it’s likely though we’ll get another president in 2008, neither Republican or Democrat that will pull the troops out because “We aren’t going to lose a war on my watch.”

We’re not tough enough on our leaders. Isn’t it time for some real talk about our President. Bush is what we used to call “a fuck’up.”

As in, “Stay away from that guy, he’s a fuck-up and will only bring you trouble.” Well, Bush is a first class fuck-up and everything he touches turns badly. In his case, deadly.

Out with the fuck-ups.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Eric
Posted on:
May 30, 2006 at 4:05 pm

It always struck me as odd that “Support Our Troops” really came to mean “Whatever the Hell OUR President Wants - Let ‘Em Die”. For this administration to even act like they give a shit about soldiers and vets is offensive to me. I watch their actions and not their rhetoric and it speaks volumes about what they care about…and it ain’t troops folks!

Thanks YDS and Roldo! Good to be mixing it up with you all again. Thanks most for the best wishes. We’ll get Ms. Plunderbund back ASAP!