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Politics : PRESIDENT BUSH - UNFIT FOR COMMAND -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (617)	4/9/2007 8:08:55 PM
From: midway moron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 660

Yeah all over a knob job. Meanwhile thousands of our troops have perished tens of thousand more are severely wounded and being cared for poorly. All the while Ossama is building reserves in Pakistan. When all the talk of the rough mountainous terrain in Afghanistan was going on they should have just flattened the whole range. F-EM ALL

To: jlallen who wrote (617)	4/13/2007 2:14:52 AM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 660

another bunch of BS From you talk to the DEAD SOLDIERS and FAMILIES about what BUSH has DONE nothing to touch YOU This is from INCOMPETENCE...something you know so much about Pentagon lengthens Army tours All active-duty troops in Iraq and Afghanistan must stay 90 more days. Move aids buildup but adds to strain on forces. By Julian E. Barnes, Times Staff Writer April 12, 2007 WASHINGTON — The Pentagon ordered 90-day extensions Wednesday for all active-duty Army troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, stretching their overseas tours from 12 to 15 months in a move that will exert new strain on a struggling military but allow the Bush administration to continue its troop buildup in Baghdad well into next year. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' announcement came amid expectations that the Pentagon was about to order longer tours for some units, but the new policy is a far more sweeping and drastic step, stretching deployments for more than 100,000 members of the Army. "I realize this decision will ask a lot of our Army troops and their families," Gates said, adding that it would ensure that the administration would not be forced to withdraw forces before it was ready. "This approach also upholds our commitment to decide when to begin any drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq solely based on conditions on the ground." The extension order also came at a crucial time in the war and the political debate surrounding it as congressional Democrats push for troop withdrawals. It marked the second time in four months that the administration has responded to pressure for withdrawals by taking a dramatic step to expand U.S. involvement in Iraq. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group in December recommended troop withdrawals, just weeks before President Bush announced the current buildup. Gates said the extensions were not a signal that he had decided to stretch out the troop buildup. But military experts said that by extending all of the active-duty brigades, the administration would be able to continue the increase into 2008. "It was always envisioned that the only way you could do it [the troop increase] was to extend tours of duty; that was known right from the outset," said Jack Keane, a retired Army general and one of the architects of the current strategy, who recommended across-the-board extensions in December. The announcement also demonstrated how the partnership between Gates and the new top commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, differed from the team that preceded it. Under former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, known for his preference for small numbers of ground forces, commanders were reluctant to demand more troops. But Petraeus has made it plain that he will ask for more troops if needed. So far, Gates has granted those requests. "The good news here is we have a commander in Iraq who is saying what he needs," said William Nash, a retired Army major general now at the Council on Foreign Relations. Gates addressed a hastily convened news conference at the Pentagon as details of the extensions were given to unit commanders. Normally, units would be told of new orders 48 hours before any public announcement, but Gates moved up the announcement after news leaks revealed the likelihood of extensions. Gates, angered by the leaks, said they caused "hardship not only for our service men and women, but their families, by letting them read about something like this in the newspapers." Gates' decision will immediately affect about 79,000 soldiers in Iraq, 18,000 in Afghanistan and 7,000 in Kuwait, according to Army officials. The first combat units to be affected in Iraq will be those that were due to come home this summer. The extensions do not affect the Marine Corps, whose members currently serve for seven months in Iraq before returning home for six months, or the National Guard. The Minnesota National Guard's yearlong tour was extended in January, when Bush announced the troop increase. But Pentagon officials since have promised they would mobilize Guard troops for only one year at a time, including training, which means their Iraq tours will probably be about 10 months. Nash is among experts who see a likely connection between the extensions and the flexibility to continue the troop buildup. "The fact is we are going to keep doing what we are doing," Nash said. "Absolutely, it will go into next year. That is why they went to 15 months."