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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Doug R who wrote (5674)	3/31/2003 7:42:23 AM
From: Ron	Respond to of 21614

U.S. Military Officers Warn Of Too Few Coalition Troops --excerpt from Wall St Journal The Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq without a key Army division that had been slated for deployment through Turkey is now being criticized by senior officers who worry the move has complicated and may lengthen the war. Some senior military officials privately are warning that the 100,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq may not be sufficient to stave off stiffer-than-expected resistance and keep long supply lines open, while mounting an effective drive on Baghdad against Saddam Hussein's best troops. Instead, they are suggesting that there may need to be a delay of several weeks in ground advances toward the capital while attack planes bomb Republican Guard units or the armored division originally intended for Turkey -- the Army's Fourth Infantry Division -- arrives in Iraq. It's still early in the war and a swift victory over the Republican Guard divisions guarding the gates to Baghdad would quickly silence critics. Military leaders in the Pentagon and Iraq publicly say no delay is envisioned. And even within the Army some officers are saying the U.S. needs to continue pushing ahead before more troops arrive. The Fourth Infantry, which boasts the Army's most technologically advanced tanks and is en route to Iraq, won't be on the ground there for 10 more days and may not be ready to fight until the third week of April. The questions and criticism are being directed at Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who some officers say pressed the idea that the war could be won with a comparatively small number of troops and then managed deployment orders to insure they fit that view. Military officers often disagree with their civilian bosses, but the questions so soon after the start of the war are unusual. Mr. Rumsfeld and his top commander in the Middle East, Gen. Tommy Franks, both said Sunday that the U.S. currently has more than enough troops to prosecute the war. "I dispute that we've sent an inadequate force to war," Mr. Rumsfeld said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I just would say we are executing the plan that the combatant commander asked for. He was not denied any forces. He's got exactly what he wants." Highly irregular for Officers currently in service to complain like this.. and so it goes.