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Keyword: troopstrength

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  • US Forces Withdrawing From Iraq and Democrats Prepare to Take Credit

    10/26/2007 5:07:13 PM PDT · by Starman417 · 8 replies · 123+ views
    Flopping Aces ^ | 10-26-07 | Scott Malensek
    This morning I checked my emails and newsfeeds like I do every morning. Right away one story jumped out at me. I had thought that the Democrats’ Congress had given up with their faux resolutions against the Iraq War, given up on trying to cut funding for the troops (always a half-hearted effort on their part at best), and generally given up on actually trying to end the war with a politically-driven premature evacuation. According to The Hill, “Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is working with a key appropriator on a strategy to halve the White House’s...
  • British Drawdown Thoroughly Discussed with U.S. Commanders in Iraq

    10/09/2007 4:19:53 PM PDT · by SandRat · 3 replies · 261+ views
    WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2007 – The British government’s decision to cut its forces in Iraq by half in the coming months has been thoroughly discussed with Multinational Force Iraq commanders and U.S. officials, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said here today. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told Parliament on Oct. 8 that he would remove half of the 5,000-man British contribution in Iraq in the spring. British forces will continue to train and work with Iraqi security forces, Brown said. The British troops are based in southern Iraq around Basra, the third-largest city in Iraq after Baghdad and Mosul. Britain has...
  • Nets Thrilled by Warner Call for 5,000 Fewer Troops, But Distressed When Bush Makes It Happen

    Three weeks ago, when Republican Senator John Warner suggested a withdrawal of about 5,000 U.S. forces from Iraq by Christmas, the networks trumpeted the idea as evidence of a major “turning point” in the war. Thursday night, President Bush announced he would, in fact, lower U.S. troop levels by 5,700 by Christmas, but those same networks were dissatisfied, with NBC’s Tim Russert grumbling that the President’s idea was really “U.S. military involvement in Iraq this year, next year, and well after I leave the presidency.”
  • Petraeus, Seeing Gains in Iraq as Fragile, Is Wary of Cuts

    09/07/2007 6:54:03 AM PDT · by Turret Gunner A20 · 7 replies · 349+ views
    New York Times ^ | September 7, 2007 | By DAVID E. SANGER and DAVID S. CLOUD
    September 7, 2007 Petraeus, Seeing Gains in Iraq as Fragile, Is Wary of Cuts By DAVID E. SANGER and DAVID S. CLOUD WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 — Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, has told President Bush that he wants to maintain heightened troop levels in Iraq well into next year to reduce the risk of military setbacks, but could accept the pullback of roughly 4,000 troops beginning in January, in part to assuage critics in Congress, according to senior administration and military officials.
  • In Strategy Shift, Gates Envisions Iraq Troop Cuts

    07/03/2007 6:53:23 PM PDT · by neverdem · 13 replies · 664+ views
    Wall Street Journal ^ | July 3, 2007 | YOCHI J. DREAZEN and GREG JAFFE
    Pullback Is Deemed Key To Forging a Consensus On Long-Haul Plans WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates and some allies in the Bush administration are seeking to build bipartisan political support for a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq by moving toward withdrawing significant numbers of troops from Iraq by the end of President Bush's term. The complicating factor is how long the administration will stick with its "surge" strategy of keeping high levels of troops in Iraq to try to tamp down violence there. On this issue, the administration -- and even the military -- is deeply divided. The longer...
  • US May Reduce Forces in Iraq by Spring

    06/22/2007 4:14:53 PM PDT · by RWR8189 · 11 replies · 629+ views
    Associated Press ^ | June 22, 2007 | PAULINE JELINEK
    WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. may be able to reduce combat forces in Iraq by next spring if Iraq's own security forces continue to grow and improve, a senior American commander said Friday. He denied reports the U.S. is arming Sunni insurgent groups to help in the fight against al-Qaida. Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top day-to-day commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, did not predict any reductions in U.S. forces but said such redeployments may be feasible by spring. There are currently 156,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon from his headquarters outside Baghdad, Odierno...
  • Number of brigades may fall, but troops to stay at 133,000

    05/30/2006 1:02:32 AM PDT · by neverdem · 6 replies · 478+ views
    The Washington Times ^ | May 30, 2006 | Rowan Scarborough
        U.S. troop levels in Iraq will likely stay around the 133,000 mark in the coming months even if an Army brigade or two is cut from the current number of 15 total combat brigades, defense officials say.     The officials said Army Gen. George Casey, the top commander in Iraq, may decide he does not need a replacement brigade for one going home. Yet the overall force level will likely stay the same because new training teams are entering the country to embed with units of the Iraq Security Force (ISF).     Gen. Casey is also periodically tapping an Army "call-forward" brigade...
  • Rumsfeld Hints Iraq Troop Levels May Rise

    03/14/2006 1:25:00 PM PST · by jmc1969 · 10 replies · 740+ views
    AP ^ | March 14 2006 | LOLITA C. BALDOR
    Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld hinted Tuesday that U.S. troop levels may increase slightly in Iraq in the coming days because of pilgrimages connected to the holiday of Ashura. His comments, while linked to the holy celebration, came as sectarian violence spiked again in Iraq, with the execution-style killings of at least 87 people, including about 29 bodies piled in a mass grave in a Baghdad neighborhood. Hundreds of people have been killed since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra, creating concern that the country may be tipping toward civil war. Rumsfeld said Gen. George Casey,...
  • Troop Levels in Iraq Must be Balanced Carefully, Officials Say

    02/17/2006 8:04:28 PM PST · by SandRat · 4 replies · 303+ views
    American Forces Press Service ^ | Feb 17, 2006 | Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
    WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2006 – The level of U.S. forces in Iraq must be balanced so as not to create an occupying force, but to still be effective and able to maintain a secure environment, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a House of Representatives committee here yesterday. "No country wants foreign forces permanently in their country; we have no desire to have our forces permanently in that country," Rumsfeld said at a hearing of the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. "The goal is to have sufficient forces." Having too many U.S. forces in Iraq could create a...
  • Sen. Inhofe: U.S. Troops Out of Iraq by June 2007

    01/31/2006 11:53:51 AM PST · by Kaslin · 13 replies · 508+ views
    NewMax ^ | January 31, 2006 | Carl Limbacher
    Oklahoma’s Republican Sen. James M. Inhofe, second-ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told a Heritage Foundation audience Monday that the Iraqis should be able to take over country security from the Coalition forces by June of 2007. "Nobody will answer the question [of when the United States can withdraw the bulk of its forces] ... well, I’ll answer it,” Inhofe pronounced in a presentation entitled "Grading National Security.” "We have 220,000 Iraqi troops now,” the lawmaker explained. "By the end of the year, we will have 300,000. All the experts agree that it will take 10 divisions of...
  • Sufficient Troop Strength in Iraq [AP gets it wrong again]

    01/26/2006 3:38:00 PM PST · by Excuse_My_Bellicosity · 6 replies · 316+ views
    Multi-National Force, Iraq ^ | January 26, 2006 | COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER
    Release A060126h Sufficient Troop Strength in Iraq BAGHDAD, Iraq – An Associated Press story earlier today incorrectly reported that General George W. Casey, Multi-National Force Iraq commanding general, implied American forces in Iraq are “stretched.” During an interview in Diwaniyah, Iraq, General Casey was asked about the current operational tempo and if insurgents could possibly “outlast” the U.S. Army in Iraq. Having talked to the Chief of Staff of the Army only yesterday about overall troop strength and operational tempo, General Casey replied that the Army could sustain this effort for a long time. Additionally, General Casey pointed out that...
  • U.S. Troops in Iraq Decrease to Last Summer's Level

    01/26/2006 3:50:48 PM PST · by SandRat · 4 replies · 239+ views
    American Forces Press Service ^ | Jan 25, 2006 | Samantha L. Quigley
    WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2006 – The number of U.S. troops serving in Iraq has decreased to around 138,000, which was the level deployed there last summer, a Defense Department military spokesman said here today. "We have come back down to the troop level that we were at back in the summer of '05," said Army Lt. Col. Barry Venable. U.S. troop levels in Iraq were temporarily boosted last year from around 138,000 to about 160,000 troops to provide extra security for the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum and the Dec. 15 nationwide elections. Those extra troops "have cycled out and we're...
  • Powell: US will pull troops out this year

    01/22/2006 5:51:31 AM PST · by MadIvan · 36 replies · 1,386+ views
    The Observer ^ | January 22, 2006 | Ned Temko
    Colin Powell, who warned President Bush on the eve of the Iraq war that US forces would have to stay for the long haul after toppling Saddam, yesterday predicted that troop withdrawals would begin by the end of this year. He spoke as final results of the elections for a new Iraqi government left the Shia Muslim alliance 10 seats short of an outright parliamentary majority - boosting US and British hopes of a coalition including Sunni and Kurdish groups. Britain's ambassador to Iraq, William Patey, said after the results were announced that an 'inclusive government of national unity' would...
  • Pentagon Weighs Cutting Troops

    01/01/2006 9:21:43 AM PST · by 68skylark · 20 replies · 378+ views
    Baltimore Sun via Hartfor Courant ^ | December 21, 2005 | TOM BOWMAN
    <p>WASHINGTON -- Pentagon officials are considering cutting as many as 34,000 soldiers - the bulk of them from the National Guard - at a time when U.S. ground forces are stretched in Iraq, according to defense officials.</p> <p>The proposed cuts are part of a reduction in the growth of defense spending over the next five years ordered by the White House.</p>
  • Rumsfeld to cut troops in Iraq

    12/24/2005 12:38:32 AM PST · by Aussie Dasher · 5 replies · 368+ views
    The Washington Times ^ | 24 December 2005 | Rowan Scarborough
    Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld yesterday said that U.S. troop levels in Iraq will dip below a base force of 138,000, the first in what is expected to be a string of reductions as local security forces take on more counterinsurgency missions next year. Mr. Rumsfeld chose an audience of U.S. Marines and the town of Fallujah, where U.S. troops fought bloody street battles to capture the city, to make an announcement that could affect the 2006 congressional elections. "President Bush has authorized an adjustment in U.S. combat brigades in Iraq from 17 to 15," said Mr. Rumsfeld, who is...
  • U.S. Troop Levels in Afghanistan Slated to Drop Next Year

    12/20/2005 2:47:39 PM PST · by stocksthatgoup · 2 replies · 201+ views
    American Forces Press Service ^ | 12/20/2005 | By Gerry J. Gilmore
    WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2005 – The number of American troops serving in Afghanistan, currently about 19,000, is slated to decline by about 2,500 next year, a senior U.S. military officer said here Dec. 19. Improved Afghan National Army and police forces and an expanded NATO contingent are enabling the reduced American military presence, Air Force Lt. Gen. Gene Renuart, the Joint Staff's director for strategic plans and policy, told the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service. "It's a good-news recognition of progress in Afghanistan, of success in our desires to build governance and improve the economies and to advance...
  • General in Iraq Expects Troop Levels to Drop

    12/17/2005 3:41:05 AM PST · by xzins · 9 replies · 445+ views
    Las Vegas Sun ^ | 17 Dec 05 | Lolita Baldor
    General in Iraq Expects Troop Levels to Drop By LOLITA C. BALDOR ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - The top U.S. military commander in Iraq said Friday he would make recommendations in the next few weeks about troop withdrawals from Iraq, and he expects the force level will drop back to 138,000 by early February. That has been the usual number this year. Speaking from Iraq, Gen. George Casey told Pentagon reporters that by late next fall, the Iraqi military should be able to largely take the lead in the country's defense, with continued support from U.S. and coalition transition teams....
  • Iraq Force Level Assessment Is Likely, Di Rita Says

    12/12/2005 4:34:12 PM PST · by SandRat · 5 replies · 301+ views
    American Forces Press Service ^ | Dec 12, 2005 | Gerry Gilmore
    WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2005 – The senior U.S. military commander in Iraq will likely conduct a force-level assessment sometime after the Dec. 15 elections, a senior defense department official said here today. However, chief DoD spokesman Lawrence Di Rita cautioned Pentagon reporters that Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, may not provide a recommendation for Iraq force-level changes along with his assessment. "I would expect fully that he'll come back and give an assessment of where he thinks he is," Di Rita said. "I don't know - I simply don't - whether that will include...
  • All Over but the Pullback: Nixon Did It in Vietnam. Bush Will Do It in Iraq. [delusional alert]

    12/04/2005 12:13:09 AM PST · by Hadean · 44 replies · 1,075+ views
    Washington Post ^ | Dec 4, 2005 | Jonathan Rauch
    On June 8, 1969, President Richard M. Nixon announced the withdrawal of 25,000 American troops from Vietnam. Within the next few months, he would declare that tens of thousands more were coming home. "He was reluctant to withdraw," says John Mueller, a political scientist at Ohio State University and the author of several books on war and public opinion, "but he kept being pushed by politics." Nixon recognized that, without U.S. military support, the government of South Vietnam would fall to the communist insurgency, and he believed that such a fall would represent a humiliating and costly defeat for the...
  • If victory critical in Iraq, why not more troops?

    11/30/2005 4:21:36 PM PST · by SJackson · 65 replies · 859+ views
    Tomah Journal ^ | 11-30-05
    On Nov. 18, Congress waged a passionate debate between those who believe America’s involvement in Iraq is a costly mistake and those who condemn a withdrawal of American troops as “cut and run.” Advertisement Advertise Info. Directory Absent from the withdraw vs. stay-the-course debate was any mention of a third option: more resources and more troops. Its omission reveals volumes about those who support the Iraq war and link it to the broader war on terror. America boasts the finest and best-trained soldiers in the history of warfare, but the existing force of 160,000 troops isn’t enough to track down...