President Bush only seems to know one thing: he wants more troops ... more troops taking shots and dodging IEDs in Iraq ... more troops for the U.S. military, period. But he's still blythely enjoying the lazy days of winter when it comes to telling the American people, the troops, and perhaps even himself, what the hell he's going to do about the mess in Iraq. As for Bush's idea of "surging" up to 30,000 troops into Baghdad to hold the city, until we take them out and lose it again? If Bushie really did listen to General Abizaid and the newly manly (well ... semi-manly...) Joint Chiefs of Staff, he wouldn't do it. Here's what the military folks Mr. Bush swears he listens to are saying about his borrowed policy solution, via his heir apparent, John McCain, first, courtesy of the WaPo:
Among the options under review by the White House is sending 15,000 to 30,000 more troops to Iraq for six to eight months. The idea has the support of important figures such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and has been pushed by some inside the White House, but the Joint Chiefs have balked because they believe advocates have not adequately defined the mission and are pushing it mainly because of limited alternatives, according to U.S. officials.
The chiefs have warned that a short-term surge could lead to more attacks by al-Qaeda, provide more targets for Sunni insurgents and fuel the jihadist appeal for more foreign fighters to flock to Iraq to attack U.S. troops, according to the officials, who described the review on condition of anonymity because it is not complete.
A White House laboring to find a new approach in Iraq says it is considering sending more U.S. troops, an option that worries top generals because of its questionable payoff and potential backlash.
The military's caution is based on two chief fears - that even temporarily shipping thousands of more troops would be largely ineffective in the absence of bold new political and economic steps, and that it would leave the already stretched Army and Marines Corps even thinner once the surge ended.
They also worry that it feeds a perception that the strife and chaos in Iraq is mainly a military problem; in their view it is largely political, fed by economic distress.
Rep. Ike Skelton, the Missouri Democrat who will become chairman of the House Armed Services Committee next month, echoed those sentiments Tuesday. "I'm convinced the Army and the Marines are near the breaking point," Skelton said, while expressing skepticism that a big troop surge would be worth the trouble.
And this:
Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, told reporters last week that a surge would make sense only under certain conditions.
"We would not surge without a purpose," Schoomaker said. "And that purpose should be measurable."
Gen. John Abizaid, the top commander for U.S. forces in the Middle East, told Congress last month that sending an extra 20,000 troops could "achieve a temporary effect" but added that it could not be sustained because the Army and Marine Corps simply are not large enough.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has also questioned whether more troops would work, saying, "I am not persuaded that another surge of troops into Baghdad for the purposes of suppressing this communitarian violence, this civil war, will work."
In other words, there's no point in super-sizing failure. Change of policy should mean change of policy.
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
