[neverdem]

NATO tries to heed call for more troops

NATO is close to useless.

[kingu]

Go from unit to unit, deployed or back from deployment, and ask them if they are ready and willing to take Iran from the Mullahs, break the back of terrorism in Syria, or shoot the midget in North Korea from a cannon, and I guarantee that every unit will reply in the affirmative. Ask every unit if they're ready to play police nanny for one more failed nation-state, and they'll say no.

But ask every unit if being in Iraq right now, under the present circumstances is right and important, and they'll agree with one note: Iraq is getting better at providing for their own defense, and the end of major deployment there is on the horizon.

But if Chavez or any other dictator/communist/terrorist thinks that they can operate with impunity and not face the military might of our nation, they are drastically wrong. You put a war, or even two wars before our troops, they will move forward and crush absolutely any and all opposition on the field of battle.

But do not expect one servicemember to relish the concept of doing yet another 'peace-keeping' activity like the aftermath of Iraq again.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

<<<<<<< RANT >>>>>> I Don't Know If The Article Has A Bunch Of Truth,,Considering,,I Do Not Like "ASSEY-METERIC" WAR,,There Is No Such Thing As This ,,If You Are Not Willing To Go All-Out To Win,,Please Call It Something Else. Please Just Call It A "Conflict",,"WEE-Don't-AGREEE", "____________________ (fill-in-blank)" What I Think As An American,,IMO,,IMHO,, This Country Needs A Larger Military,,,Plain And Simple,,,I Don't Like Smaller I Like Bigger,Badder,,Whatever It Takes,,DEGUELLO,,All-Out, Git-R-Done,A$$-Whuppin,,,etc. We Cannot Screw-Around With Those People!!<> GOD BLESS THE TROOPS.

[leadpenny]

To clarify a comment made in the article, it's not that 98% of Army Captains were promoted to Major last year, but that it was 98% of the Captains in the zone of consideration were selected for promotion. They get promoted sequentially from the promotion list. Still, an incredible number.

The desired rate is near 70%.

That said, it indicates to me that Captains are choosing to leave the Army at an astonishing rate.

[BigSkyFreeper]

In "Reinforce Baghdad" [op-ed, Sept. 12], William Kristol and Rich Lowry argue that the United States needs to deploy "substantially" more troops to Iraq to stabilize the country. ...

-snip-

Related Thread: 

Reinforce Baghdad (girlymen not happy with Bush)
	Posted by pissant On News/Activism 09/11/2006 10:23:52 PM MDT · 89 replies · 1,176+ views WashPost ^ | 9/12/06 | Billie Kristol and Richie Lowry

[FreedomCalls]

NATO is close to useless.

It's worse than that. It's a negative liability. Every troop sucked into being stationed in Europe, training in Europe, or deploying in Europe is a troop that could be more effectively used elsewhere. But just try to get the perfumed princes to give up their palaces and their assignments to SHAPE, USAFE, or USAREUR ...

[Steel Wolf]

When one combines this news with the fact that roughly one-third of the active Army is deployed (and thus presumably ready for combat), the math is simple but the answer alarming: The active Army has close to zero combat-ready brigades in reserve.

There's a reason we're not sending more troops to Iraq or Afghanistan. We're doing all we can just to keep up with the current rate of deployments. While our military is a perfect size to knock out other militaries and governments, it's simply not large enough to maintain long term, large scale occupation duties.

[expatpat]

Iraq has to use its own forces, if it is to survive long-term, so putting more US troops in there is moving in the wrong direction. I see us keeping a 'small' garrison there for many years, like Germany and Japan, but reducing, not enlarging, our presence there over the next few years.