US Military Reversing Iraq Troop Surge

Source: Associated Press




US Military Reversing Iraq Troop Surge

By ROBERT BURNS (AP Military Writer)
From Associated Press
November 12, 2007 2:59 PM EST
WASHINGTON - The first big test of security gains linked to the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is at hand.

The military has started to reverse the 30,000-strong troop increase and commanders are hoping the drop in insurgent and sectarian violence in recent months - achieved at the cost of hundreds of lives - won't prove fleeting.

The current total of 20 combat brigades is shrinking to 19 as the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, operating in volatile Diyala province, leaves. The U.S. command in Baghdad announced on Saturday that the brigade had begun heading home to Fort Hood, Texas, and that its battle space will be taken by another brigade already operating in Iraq.

Between January and July - on a schedule not yet made public - the force is to shrink further to 15 brigades. The total number of U.S. troops will likely go from 167,000 now to 140,000-145,000 by July, six months before President Bush leaves office and a new commander in chief enters the White House.



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Reenlistments scarce as hen's teeth? Can't sustain that pipeline?

Either they'll have to gin up more 'mercenary er, contract armies, or start increasing the numbers of Sailors and Airmen performing infantry-esque functions, if they find they need more bodies in theatre.

Petraeus talked about this in Sept., but now they're trying to tie it to the "success" of the Bribery Surge.

Everything they do or say is just a setup for some effing charade down the road.

A scant number of soldiers return home. So what? Big deal. We will be at high "surge/escalation" numbers for a long, long time.