Hagel knows, or ought to know, damn well that the more US troops are there the safer all our troops will be. If that sounds counterintuitive, all it means is that one of our troopers is more capable then ten Iraqi troopers. But we certainly have to change the ROE so that force protection become #1.
RE changing the Rules of Engagement, there is news today in Washington Times and the NY Times, (and should be on the radio every half hour - instead of the latest bombing in Baghdad)---
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20070125-102020-4309r.htm
Al-Maliki promises a safe Iraq
By Bassem Mroue
ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 26, 2007
BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged in a speech to parliament yesterday that the militants who have made life intolerable in Baghdad would not be safe anywhere in Iraq in the face of a coming U.S.-Iraqi security sweep.
Mr. al-Maliki did not reveal the details of the plan, which he has dubbed "Operation Imposing Law," or say when it would begin. But he made clear that it would not be the last such battle against the militants.
"We are full of hope. We have no other choice but to use force and any place where we receive fire will not be safe even if it is a school, a mosque, a political party office or home," he said. "There will be no safe place in Iraq for terrorists."