U.S. to send 20,000 additional troops to stabilize Iraq

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM ^ | 25 May 03

[SLB]

The United States plans to increase its military force in Iraq in an effort to stabilize the country.

U.S. officials said nearly 20,000 troops would arrive in Iraq over the next few weeks. This would increase the U.S. force level to about 163,000 troops. Currently, about 145,000 U.S. soldiers are deployed in Iraq.

U.S. troops have disarmed a militia group affiliated with pro-American Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi, as part of a campaign to impose law and order in Iraq, a political official said Sunday.

But fighters of the biggest Muslim Shi'ite group, trained by Washington's bitter foe Iran, reacted warily to the U.S. military's June 14 ultimatum for Iraqis to surrender their weapons.

Parts of Iraq were plunged into chaos after U.S.-led forces toppled president Saddam Hussein last month, and some Iraqis complain that crime has reached unprecedented levels. Gen. Peter Pace, deputy chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the additional troops would come from the 1st Armored Division, Middle East Newsline reported.

The U.S. military dissolved the Free Iraq Forces (FIF) and disarmed its fighters, said Entifadh Qanbar, spokesman for Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress.

The FIF, with fewer than 700 fighters and armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, had been working under U.S. command.

Pace said the arrival of the armored division would represent the peak force level of the U.S. military in Iraq.

"The number is being increased as we speak by about 18,000 with the arrival of the 1st Armored Division," Pace told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday. "And then beyond that, there are no current projected deployments."

The United States has been joined by 20,000 British troops in Iraq. Washington has been discussing the contribution of other allies to the stabilization effort in Iraq.

[SLB]

Any bets that Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki and the fired Secretary of the Army Tom White are snickering and saying "Told you so?"

[SLB]

Comments?

[saquin]

We're doing now what we should have done from the beginning. We're approaching 200,000 troops, which I believe is what Shinseki said we'd need to stabilize the country. Too bad his thoughts were dismissed. We could have avoided a lot of problems. But, better late than never, I guess.

[joesnuffy]

As long as "Palestinians", Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordon, Lebbanon, Iran, Sudan,Somalia,Yemin,Algeria,Lybia,
France, Germany, Russia, China, Canada, Cuba, et al ...are still engaged in terrorism, or the financing, sheltering,harboring, training, equiping, and offering any kind of support
This war will never end...and Iraq will have a steady supply of Jiihadis..
They...like we...need to seal the borders...

[Fred Mertz]

Thanks for the heads up. Rummy won't admit to being wrong even if he is. Plus-up of the Brits 20K more is kind of buried in this story.

[Unknown Freeper]

bump for later

[Momaw Nadon]

Prelude to invasion of Iran?

[cookcounty]

This is not a "new commitment." though the anti-Bush press is trying to spin it that way. The 1st was publicly committed back in January, it's just that they're finally arriving now.

[oceanview]

this is true.

still, I saw a report on Fox today about the general effort to stabilize the country. In Baghdad, the reporter said the electricity is still only on for two hours per day. Why? Were the generating plants destroyed? No followup on the report as to why it is taking so long to restore power, is it lack of refined diesel to run the generators?

[BlackVeil]

In Baghdad, the reporter said the electricity is still only on for two hours per day. On the weekend, the Australian foreign minister was visiting Baghdad, and he went everywhere escorted by an absolute regiment of armed forces, because security is so bad. There was an electricity station in the background, and someone pointed it out and said that it is operating at only 20% capacity.

Also, in another report, I read that the water mains in Nasiriyeh had finally been restored, but then had been "looted" within a few days, and so now wrecked again. Reading this, I wondered if some of the "looting" might not be a deliberate sabotage by guerilla forces.

[BlackVeil]

They also might need greater troop numbers, because of the terrible weather and unhealthy conditions in southern Iraq.

[Non-Sequitur]

Prelude to invasion of Iran?

God I hope not. We can't even get one country settled, the last thing we need is another.

[oceanview]

they had better move fast to get water and electricity going faster then they have been. does it take a genius to post guards at something as vital as a water plant? I don't mean to sound like Bob Graham, but we have to do better before things really do become a problem over there.

[csmusaret]

Close but no cigar. Shinseki said "several hundred thousand" not 200,000.

[ContentiousObjector]

how the hell do you loot a water main?

[Non-Sequitur]

Close but no cigar. Shinseki said "several hundred thousand" not 200,000.

Two can be interpreted as 'several. Besides, that idiot Richard Pearle said it could be done with less that 30,000. Who was closer?

[oceanview]

you steal the pumping equipment, or just vandalize the pipes.

[BlackVeil]

how the hell do you loot a water main? That is exactly what I was asking myself. I suppose that there might be deisel generators, which could be taken away and sold. But most of the equipment, surely, is not of any use elsewhere. Which is why one wonders if someone isn't striking out at any public property to hand, as a gesture of resentment. The water mains at Nasireyeh had been restored by an international charity, not the new govt in Iraq. They need to get control.

[csmusaret]

2 is never several. Shinseki was wrong and , if you are correct so was Pearle. Is there a point here other than 2 people were very wrong?

[patriciaruth]

Rummy won't admit to being wrong even if he is.

Actually the plan was Tommy Franks'.

How Tommy Franks Won the Iraq War

[Aaron0617]

Why??

Its been 6 weeks. Why haven't the U.S. or the Coalition hired enough Iraqi Police.

Why not have our soldiers trained more police Or convert Iraqi soldiers to be policemen to do this? All with a minimal force of U.S. forces to watch them.

[ContentiousObjector]

new water mains are being layed just down the street, each segment is about 20 feet long, 5 feet tall and 8 feet wide.

I can't picture two scruffy looking Iraqi kids wandering off with one

[Terp]

Differant troops for differant missions. These guys are more than likely Military Police.

[patriciaruth]

Why haven't the U.S. or the Coalition hired enough Iraqi Police.

We were hoping that we were going to capture enough drafted Iraqi soldiers to train for these positions. But many were forced to fight to the death or see their families killed by the Fedayeen Saddam, and others went AWOL and changed clothes to civilian so they couldn't be identified.

Also, the Iraqi people were resistent to having the actual police force that had brutalized them for years being put back in power. Only those, like traffic cops and lower eschelon cops they didn't have grudges against were allowed to go back into uniform without the populus protesting.

The Brits coming and the new Americans coming are M.P. types with policing experience, and the Brits will be training the new Iraqi police force.

[patriciaruth]

Were the generating plants destroyed? No followup on the report as to why it is taking so long to restore power,

The Iraqi equipment for their utilities is falling to pieces due to lack of updating parts over the last decades, diverting money to build palaces instead.

What isn't well reported is that most of the utilities were running at 50% efficiency BEFORE the Iraq War, due to jerryrigging unrepaired and unreplaced equipment and infrastructure. In many places now our efforts to provide water and electricity equal or exceed pre-WAR performance.

[Prodigal Son]

Any bets that Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki and the fired Secretary of the Army Tom White are snickering and saying "Told you so?"

No, actually.

There is no political mileage to be had here. Personally, I support 10 Million troops being deployed to Iraq. Until we reach that number, all bets are off. I want to see an additional 10 carrier groups created and deployed. Nothing less than complete subjugation of the jihadists will satisfy me. 20,000 troops? Let's not talk peanuts.

[patriciaruth]

Franks wanted to bring another division in via the Northern border, to have a Northern front and also the extra troops to make shock deeper and surrenders more likely. But the Turks nixed that part of the plan.

The backup plan had the Kurds and CIA run the Northern front but it gave Franks less boots on the ground than he would have prefered for control and mop-up. At first, it appeared that the lesser number might work out in spite of everything, but with the criminal control problems and the bad press, the original number of troops in the original plan was seen to be necessary.

Wars are like that. You deal with the reality and fix what didn't go perfectly.

[AntiGuv]

I suspect it's a prelude to the stabilization of Iraq.. </sarcasm>

Once in a while, things really are that which they appear to be..

[RockBassCreek]

20,000 will still not get them to Shinseki's proposal. In any case, the current war plan always allowed for increasing strength levels in the face of need. However, I believe that Shinseki's intent had always been honorable. If we permit a climate where a general gets shunned for offering his own experienced opinion, then we have made a mistake.

[4Freedom]

"They...like we...need to seal the borders..."

Bush and friends can find all the money and the troops in the world to secure another country's borders.

[alethia]

My thoughts exactly...or at least heightened "extra-curricular" activities...

[alethia]

It is absolutely deliberate. I'm sure it's being facilitated by Ba'ath party members and Iranian backed groups...

[RobbyS]

why it is taking so long to restore power My question also. Maybe more sabotage than they anticipated.

[RobbyS]

He also said several years. Let us hope he is wrong.

[sakic]

but we have to do better before things really do become a problem over there

Too late.

[American in Israel]

I suspect we are sending another 20,000 troops to stablize Syria. Iraq already is neutered.

[csmusaret]

He is probably right on that one. Our troop deployments are like "The Hotel California"- we can check out, but we can never leave.

[RobbyS]

I kind of hope that we are putting enough troops in so that they can be massed at the right points quickly. My son is in Baghdad, and I feel he would be safer out in the field. Even scouting is safer than patrolling a city loaded with small arms.

[American in Israel]

I am sure your son is pretty safe, the US Military is the best in the world. More people die in Chicago from armed robberys than will die in Bagdad in the same period of time. Your son is safer in Bagdad!

[RobbyS]

Well, I am sure that the average inhabitant of Baghdad is in no greater danger than the average American citizen in the projects. But policing such a place is a dangerous business, especially when the unit has to be dispersed. He has a lot of confidence in his platoon sgt. and his gunner, both of whom are vets of the '91 campaign. Accept for one guy, the rest of his platoon is pretty squared away. His CO is also reliable. His equipment is old, some of the humvees 20 years old, and he expects to leave it in Iraq. Lot of OJT. Hope the hiring of the old NYPD commissioner will do some good.

[American in Israel]

It seems every unit has a dipstick. Blessings on your son and your family as you make the sacrifice of time and effort that made America Free. Prayers for him and his unit.

Thanks for being a vets Dad!

[RobbyS]

Thank you. For him and all men in harm's way and for the fools who ignore that we live in a violent world. It is one thing to love an enemy and another to turn one's back on him.

[ASA Vet]

Quagmire Alert!