Pentagon Wants ‘Very Rapid Reduction’ in Troops
11 September 2007 1:11 pm by Taylor Marsh
Pentagon Wants ‘Very Rapid Reduction’ in Troops **updated**
Petraeus: “I Don’t Know” If My Iraq Policy Makes America Safer.
The military is at war about the war. Bush is trying to keep the lid on and
General Petraeus is helping him do it.
Another new arrival in the West Wing set up a rapid-response PR unit hard-wired into Petraeus’s shop. Ed Gillespie, the new presidential counselor, organized daily conference calls at 7:45 a.m. and again late in the afternoon between the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the U.S. Embassy and military in Baghdad to map out ways of selling the surge. … .. Among Top Officials, ‘Surge’ Has Sparked Dissent, Infighting
Congress and the American people are being sold a decidedly unpresidential
bill of goods. There have been reports of Admiral Fallon’s disagreement with
General Petraeus. It’s a harder line than we’re being told. Unfortunately, we
won’t be privy to the truth until we’re in the midst of the ‘08 elections.
But it’s questionable whether even the smoothest-talking salesman could appease
public opinion—or Petraeus’s Pentagon detractors—at this
point. NEWSWEEK has learned that a separate internal report being
prepared by a Pentagon working group will “differ substantially”
from Petraeus’s recommendations, according to an official who is privy
to the ongoing discussions but would speak about them only on condition of
anonymity. An early version of the report, which is currently being drafted
and is expected to be completed by the beginning of next year, will “recommend
a very rapid reduction in American forces: as much as two-thirds of the existing
force very quickly, while keeping the remainder there.” The
strategy will involve unwinding the still large U.S. presence in big forward
operation bases and putting smaller teams in outposts. “There is interest
at senior levels [of the Pentagon] in getting alternative views” to
Petraeus, the official said. Among others, Centcom commander Admiral William
Fallon is known to want to draw down faster than Petraeus.(snip)
John Arquilla, an intelligence and counterinsurgency expert at the Naval
Postgraduate School, is even harsher in his assessment of Petraeus. “I
think Colin Powell used dodgy information to get us into the war, and Petraeus
is using dodgy information to keep us there,” he said. … ..
Admiral Fallon wants a quicker redeployment, a more immediate response to the
debacle in which we’re entrenched.
Now we’re hearing “breaking news” from the AP that Bush will announce a reduction of 30,000 troops. If you look quickly (UPDATE: They’ve already taken it down.) at the “Breaking News” above this archived article you’ll notice something classic. Here’s today’s headline: President Bush will announce this week plans to cut U.S. troop numbers in Iraq by about 30,000 by next summer, The Associated Press reports quoting unnamed officials. It’s deja vu all over again.
Officials: U.S. hopes to pull 30,000 troops Rumsfeld, Rice visit Iraq, encourage formation of government
Wednesday, April 26, 2006; Posted: 8:50 p.m. EDT (00:50 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has tentative plans to reduce U.S. troops levels in Iraq by about 30,000 by the end of the year, senior military officials said Wednesday.
The fact that Mr. Bush and General Petraeus are talking about drawing down 30,000 troops
is an insult to our intelligence. Those troops were always planned to be pulled,
otherwise our Army and Marines would collapse. Not a very impressive tactic
when you think about it, especially considering the costs, human and economic. But the general is tasked with one job: keeping us in Iraq until the Republicans hand off the presidency to the Democrats. Republicans intend on blaming us for Bush’s war. It’s been the plan all along.
