Pentagon Officials Want More Troops and Money for Iraq
Donald Rumsfeld said our strategy in Iraq isn't working. He's gone, but Stephen Hadley said Sunday Bush will consider his suggestions, as well as those from the Iraq Study Group which are due on Wednesday.
The Wall St. Journal now reports(free link) that many senior Pentagon officials are at the opposite end of the spectrum -- saying more troops and more money is the only way to win in Iraq.
Outside the military, most of the debate is focused on a U.S. troop withdrawal. But inside the Pentagon, the recent dismissal of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has given some new life to arguments by military officers who say the U.S. must pour more troops and money into the country to expand the Iraqi army -- the one institution in Iraq that has shown some promise -- and stabilize the capital.
....Most military officers, however, seem to believe that a pullback of U.S. forces would only trigger more violence and make political compromise in the country impossible. These officers argue that 20,000 U.S. troops are needed to bring order to Baghdad. Another 10,000 U.S. soldiers would also be needed to work as advisers with the Iraqi Army, which currently numbers about 134,000 troops and might need to double in size.
Military officials who advocate such an approach warn that it could take years and hundreds of billions of dollars. But many of these officers bristle at the idea that it is too hard or impossible.
Will Bush listen to them?
Senior military officials seeking to make one last push to stabilize Baghdad might find a receptive ear with President Bush.
The President used a joint appearance last week with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to signal that his administration wasn't planning troop reductions any time soon. Senior White House officials say Mr. Bush is open to the idea of a drive to stabilize the country by temporarily increasing the number of U.S. forces there. These officials say Mr. Bush has paid a political price for the war and now has a brief window of time before the 2008 election cycle intensifies to change conditions on the ground there. The officials say Mr. Rumsfeld's ouster was misinterpreted as a sign that a significant shift is coming.
In related news, it seems the Iraqi death toll has been seriously underestimated.
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