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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Sun Aug 21, 2005 7:20 pm Army Preparing for 4 More Years in Iraq |
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Army Preparing for 4 More Years in Iraq
Sunday, August 21, 2005
WASHINGTON � The Army (search) is planning for the possibility of keeping the current number of soldiers in Iraq � well over 100,000 � for four more years, the Army's top general said Saturday.
In an Associated Press interview, Gen. Peter Schoomaker (search) said the Army is prepared for the "worst case" in terms of the required level of troops in Iraq. He said the number could be adjusted lower if called for by slowing the force rotation or by shortening tours for soldiers.
Schoomaker said commanders in Iraq and others who are in the chain of command will decide how many troops will be needed next year and beyond. His responsibility is to provide them, trained and equipped.
About 138,000 U.S. troops, including about 25,000 Marines, are now in Iraq.
"We are now into '07-'09 in our planning," Schoomaker said, having completed work on the set of combat and support units that will be rotated into Iraq over the coming year for 12-month tours of duty.
Schoomaker's comments come amid indications from Bush administration officials and commanders in Iraq that the size of the U.S. force may be scaled back next year if certain conditions are achieved.
Among those conditions: an Iraqi constitution must be drafted in coming days; it must be approved in a national referendum; and elections must be held for a new government under that charter.
Schoomaker, who spoke aboard an Army jet on the trip back to Washington from Kansas City, Mo., made no predictions about the pace of political progress in Iraq. But he said he was confident the Army could provide the current number of forces to fight the insurgency for many more years. The 2007-09 rotation he is planning would go beyond President Bush's term in office, which ends in January 2009.
Schoomaker was in Kansas City for a dinner Friday hosted by the Military Order of the World Wars, a veterans' organization.
"We're staying 18 months to two years ahead of ourselves" in planning which active-duty and National Guard and Reserve units will be provided to meet the commanders' needs, Schoomaker said in the interview.
The main active-duty combat units that are scheduled to go to Iraq in the coming year are the 101st Airborne Division (search), based at Fort Campbell, Ky., and the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas. Both did one-year tours earlier in the war.
The Army has changed the way it arranges troop rotations.
Instead of sending a full complement of replacement forces each 12-month cycle, it is stretching out the rotation over two years.
The current rotation, for 2005-07, will overlap with the 2006-08 replacements. Beyond that, the Army is piecing together the plan for the 2007-09 switch, Schoomaker said.
With the recent deployments of National Guard brigades from Georgia and Pennsylvania, the National Guard has seven combat brigades in Iraq � the most of the entire war � plus thousands of support troops.
Along with the Army Reserve and Marine Reserve, they account for about 40 percent of the total U.S. forces in Iraq. Schoomaker said that will be scaled back next year to about 25 percent as newly expanded active-duty divisions such as the 101st Airborne enter the rotation.
August has been the deadliest month of the war for the National Guard and Reserve, with at least 42 fatalities thus far. Schoomaker disputed the suggestion by some that the Guard and Reserve units are not fully prepared for the hostile environment of Iraq.
"I'm very confident that there is no difference in the preparation" of active-duty soldiers and the reservists, who normally train one weekend a month and two weeks each summer, unless they are mobilized. Once called to active duty, they go through the same training as active-duty units.
In internal surveys, some in the reserve forces have indicated to Army leaders that they think they are spending too much time in pre-deployment training, not too little, Schoomaker said.
"Consistently, what we've been (hearing) is, `We're better than you think we are, and we could do this faster,'" he said. "I can promise you that we're not taking any risk in terms of what we're doing to prepare people."
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Military: militar |
Whew. Am glad to hear that we won't be leaving any time tooo soon at least.
(Sorry Aaron  )
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sun Aug 21, 2005 7:47 pm |
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Haha, is okay! But yours is from our favorite network... mine was from CNN,  So I'm sure this one is better.
-------signature-------
"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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| Sun Aug 21, 2005 9:33 pm |
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| IntrepidIsMe wrote: | | Haha, is okay! But yours is from our favorite network... mine was from CNN, So I'm sure this one is better. |
All the news stations use basically the same text, from the AP. They usually just change the headline. (on websites that is)
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sun Aug 21, 2005 9:41 pm |
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Haha... it was for RM, 
-------signature-------
"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Sun Aug 21, 2005 10:04 pm |
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| IntrepidIsMe wrote: | | Haha... it was for RM, |
lol, how nice of you to think of me! 
Anyways, it's good news to hear that we're going to stay as long as it takes. I know that most troops think this as well.
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Alucard
Vampire
Joined: 06 Nov 2004
Posts: 2780
Location: Caaaaaanada
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| Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:44 am |
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it's good that they're staying as long as it takes, but still, that just means more soldiers that could be killed, more death counts. Is it really worth it?
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:47 pm |
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Ask the Iraqi people if it is.
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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borgslayer
Rear Admiral
Joined: 27 Aug 2003
Posts: 2646
Location: Las Vegas
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| Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:48 pm |
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| mad_d0ggie wrote: | | it's good that they're staying as long as it takes, but still, that just means more soldiers that could be killed, more death counts. Is it really worth it? |
No in some sense but if you leave a country without proper defense you could bring it to even worst bloodshed. Hense the reason for 4 more years. 
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Mon Aug 22, 2005 4:38 pm |
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The cut and run people are just ludicrous. Simply ludicrous. If we cut and run now, after replacing a terrorist-enabler, another terrorist-enabler--even more enabling than Saddam--would take power. That's not good, and so it is MOST DEFINITELY worth it.
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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voy416
Captain
Joined: 28 Oct 2001
Posts: 631
Location: Rock Bottom
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| Wed Aug 24, 2005 9:08 pm |
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HA they will never leave cause Iraqi has oil, if there was no oil nobody would be there.
-------signature-------
To Be Are Not To Be......Is That Really The
Question
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Wed Aug 24, 2005 9:15 pm |
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| voy416 wrote: | | HA they will never leave cause Iraqi has oil, if there was no oil nobody would be there. |
And your evidence for this accusation is...?
And your evidence for us taking oil is...?
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Founder
Dominion Leader
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 12755
Location: Gamma Quadrant
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| Wed Aug 24, 2005 11:27 pm |
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| voy416 wrote: | | HA they will never leave cause Iraqi has oil, if there was no oil nobody would be there. |
If we're stealing oil, then why are gas prices so high?
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voy416
Captain
Joined: 28 Oct 2001
Posts: 631
Location: Rock Bottom
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| Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:52 pm |
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It is a fact that Iraqi has oil they showed it on TV, and the USA being the most powerful nation it is , wants more power , bush is power hungry , people may say oh no no he is a saint and all that but the dude is nuts just like his father and for the high gas prices , why would they want to lower them , like the people can do anything about it
-------signature-------
To Be Are Not To Be......Is That Really The
Question
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Founder
Dominion Leader
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 12755
Location: Gamma Quadrant
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| Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:55 pm |
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| voy416 wrote: | | It is a fact that Iraqi has oil they showed it on TV, and the USA being the most powerful nation it is , wants more power , bush is power hungry , people may say oh no no he is a saint and all that but the dude is nuts just like his father and for the high gas prices , why would they want to lower them , like the people can do anything about it |
He would want to lower them to try and look better against a population that already hates him. Help the economy. Not have to pay much to go to Crawford. The list goes on.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Thu Aug 25, 2005 11:34 pm |
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| Founder wrote: | | voy416 wrote: | | It is a fact that Iraqi has oil they showed it on TV, and the USA being the most powerful nation it is , wants more power , bush is power hungry , people may say oh no no he is a saint and all that but the dude is nuts just like his father and for the high gas prices , why would they want to lower them , like the people can do anything about it |
He would want to lower them to try and look better against a population that already hates him. Help the economy. Not have to pay much to go to Crawford. The list goes on. |
Agreed. Voy's statements, also, are just plain funny. They're funny now.
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Fri Aug 26, 2005 12:06 am |
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The rise in oil prices is mostly an artificial reaction on the part of the oil companies.
American troops cannot stay forever in Iraq, it simply isn't logistically feasible. The longer they stay, the lower Bush's approval ratings will drop. Even though it's apparent they aren't just going to pull out any time soon, the Pentagon is already drawing up plans to reduce the amount of troops in Iraq by early next year.
While I think it was a mistake to go into Iraq in the first place, I don't plan to debate the point. And I don't think Bush or his administration is part of some elaborate plot to artificially inflate oil prices and seize control of Iraqi oil production.
Although I wouldn't put it past them.
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Arellia
The Quiet One
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 4425
Location: Dallas, TX
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| Fri Aug 26, 2005 7:53 pm |
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I guess I'm glad that we will finish what we came to do, but it's going to be a very, very long four years...
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