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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bilow who wrote (128581)	4/7/2004 12:19:41 AM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Just saw Rumsfeld on C-Span assuring everyone that if Abizaid says we need more troops in Iraq, he will get them. But Abizaid doesn't need more troops. Rumsfeld didn't look like his chipper self today, at least not in the segment of his press conference that I saw. Can't say I blame him.

To: Bilow who wrote (128581)	4/7/2004 12:37:40 AM
From: h0db	Respond to of 281500

I should have said that the proportion of guard/reserve to active duty in Iraq this summer will be at an all time high, not the absolute number. I work with a reserve Army major; he's been with us for about three years. Six months after starting, he was called up to serve in Bosnia. He served for a year and then was called up a year later to go to Afghanistan. He was there for 13 months, and has been back with us for about 6 months. Yesterday, he was activated for Iraq. His skill is actually useful there- civil affairs--but he's expecting a very different tour of duty from Bosnia and even Afghanistan. I don't mean to sound defeatist, because I think that the US has the capacity and even the will to succeed in Iraq, but not by following the current plan (if it can even be called that), and not by committing ourselves to false political deadlines like the transition to Iraqi sovereignty on 1 June. This was a date that we announced, not one asked for by the provisional Iraqi ruling council. There was quite a scene on PBS's Newshour last night with the Chair (Lugar) and ranking minority member (Biden) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in unanimity that they had requested but not received any Administration briefing on what the plan was for the transition.