Call it a surge or an escalation or whatever you like. But the New Way Forward looks and sounds a lot like the old ways. Some blasts from the pasts on former troop surges:
President George Bush last night declared he was ready to send more US troops to Iraq “to finish the work of the fallen” in accomplishing the transition to democratic self-rule.
In a rare prime-time televised news conference that opened with a 15-minute address to the nation, Mr Bush conceded the US had suffered some “tough weeks” in Iraq but rejected comparisons with the Vietnam war.
About 20,000 U.S. soldiers due to return from Iraq to their home bases this month and next will have their tours extended at least three months in a plan the Pentagon finalized yesterday, defense officials said.
While the commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf had said he would need more troops last week, the plan spells out for the first time how many soldiers will be affected and which units they are from. Some of the soldiers scheduled to leave Iraq — and their families — had held out hope they might be spared as Pentagon authorities worked out the details. But the final list, due for release today, shows that few escaped the extension.
Dec 2, 2004 (AXcess News) Washington – More U.S. troops are on their way to Iraq ahead of elections set for the end of January. The additional forces are intended to bolster security at a time when the country’s insurgency is threatening to prevent voting in areas of the country dominated by Iraq’s Sunni minority, some of whom are demanding that the election be postponed.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved a request from the top U.S. commander in Iraq to extend the rotations of more than 10,000 American troops in the country, while at the same time ordering the deployment of an additional 1500 active duty soldiers. That would put the total number of American troops in Iraq about 150,000 the most since the U.S. led invasion in March of last year. […]
The decision to raise troop levels reflects on going concerns about security ahead of elections scheduled for January 30, and whether parts of the country engulfed in insurgency will be secure in time for the voting. …
WASHINGTON (CNN) — More troops are headed to Iraq, this time 1,500 paratroopers to temporarily boost military strength during the fall election, the Pentagon has announced.
Two battalions of the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy in mid-September from their home base of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The deployment will include the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment (AIR) and the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR).
This is the third time the United States has raised troop levels during political milestones in Iraq. Similar increases were made during the June 2004 transfer to Iraqi sovereignty and during January’s elections.
This deployment and last week’s announcement of another increase will raise the troop level to at least 140,000.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military will likely maintain or possibly even increase the current force levels of more than 140,000 troops in Iraq through next spring, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said Tuesday in one of the gloomiest assessments yet of how quickly American forces can be brought home. […]
There are currently 147,000 U.S. forces in Iraq — up more than 20,000 from the troop levels in late June. Rumsfeld extended the one-year deployment of an Alaska-based brigade in July, as part of the effort to stem the escalating violence in Baghdad.
New Way Forward? My ass! More like the same old, same old. And we all know how well that’s worked out to date. So, tell me again, what makes this troop increase/surge/escalation any different from every other one we’ve tried in Iraq? And yes, that’s a rhetorical question.