Pentagon struggles to find fresh troops

[maddezmom]

Pentagon struggles to find fresh troops By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
26 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Military leaders are struggling to choose Army units to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan longer or go there earlier than planned, but five years of war have made fresh troops harder to find.

Faced with a military buildup in Iraq that could drag into next year, Pentagon officials are trying to identify enough units to keep up to 20 brigade combat teams in Iraq. A brigade usually has about 3,500 troops.

The likely result will be extending the deployments of brigades scheduled to come home at the end of the summer, and sending others earlier than scheduled.

Final decisions — which have not yet been made — would come as Congress is considering ways to force President Bush to wind down the war, despite his vow that he would veto such legislation.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070310/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_troops

[unhappycamper]

1. Did someone leave the door open?

It feels a bit drafty.

[sarcasmo]

12. Three day draft conference in D.C. this summer. Could it be coming soon?

[Akoto]

16. Probably not, no.

The draft is one thing Bush can't simply wave a magic wand and have. It requires Congressional approval. Given the fact that we have a Congress seeking to scale down and ultimately end the war, I wouldn't hold your breath about seeing a draft soon.

I think this is also part of the reason that the administration is so desperately seeking to retain existing troops, regardless of their condition. They know that requesting a draft, or any other kind of conscription, would be the final nail in their war's coffin. That's when it hits home, not simply for the American public, but for the Congress critters that'd have to permit such an action.

[babylonsister]

2. That title is so sad; makes the troops sound so disposable.

:-(

[maddezmom]

3. agree, but with this administration

it seems to be a fact :(

[C_U_L8R]

4. i know where ....

www.freerepublic.com - fresh meat ready for the grinder

and there's those super fresh Bush twins too, they're not doing anything useful... send them.

[SpiralHawk]

5. "We volunteer to counter the family shame." - Barbara and Jenna Bush

"Somebody has to compensate for dad, aka Commander AWOL and his shameful record of military desertion, and also for Grandpoppy, and his even more shameful record of having serving as banker to Hitler and the Nazis."

- Barbara and Jenna Bush

[fed-up]

6. Pentagon Struggles to find Cannon Fodder-at least our youth are waking up

and paying attention to what they can expect from this administration if they sign up, have to head off to a civil war and/or get injured and need treatment.

Critical thinking is an important skill essential for survival in b*shworld. Our youth cannot make rational decisions regarding military service if they are not given adequate, accurate information on the true situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. They cannot make rational decisions regarding military service if they are not given an accurate picture of what kind of medical treatment they will receive and how long it will take to get that treatment if it is needed.

Thanks to all those that have helped to get the lies into the mainstream media that led up to this illegal, immoral war and to those that have exposed the crappy treatment given those soldiers that believed they were helping our country.



BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!

[City Lights]

7. What a headline.

Speaks volumes about the dire situation in Iraq. x(

I know of a "fresh troop" they found. He's a Reservist who is 40, and he's got a wife and two kids under 5. They sent him for sniper training before shipping him off to Baghdad. :mad: Stay safe, dude.

[Canuckistanian]

8. They should send recruiters to Hershey, Pa.

A lot of young people there now have some free time on their hands.

[mopinko]

9. then they should end the war. the people have

"voted with their feet." as st ronnie said.

[stonebone]

10. Bush will be remembered as the greatest destroyer of the American military

[maddezmom]

11. Salon: The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq

At Fort Benning, soldiers who were classified as medically unfit to fight are now being sent to war. Is this an isolated incident or a trend?

By Mark Benjamin

March 11, 2007 | FORT BENNING, Georgia -- "This is not right," said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear. "This whole thing is about taking care of soldiers," he said angrily. "If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight. If you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight."

As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.

On Feb. 15, Master Sgt. Jenkins and 74 other soldiers with medical conditions from the 3rd Division's 3rd Brigade were summoned to a meeting with the division surgeon and brigade surgeon. These are the men responsible for handling each soldier's "physical profile," an Army document that lists for commanders an injured soldier's physical limitations because of medical problems -- from being unable to fire a weapon to the inability to move and dive in three-to-five-second increments to avoid enemy fire. Jenkins and other soldiers claim that the division and brigade surgeons summarily downgraded soldiers' profiles, without even a medical exam, in order to deploy them to Iraq. It is a claim division officials deny.

The 3,900-strong 3rd Brigade is now leaving for Iraq for a third time in a steady stream. In fact, some of the troops with medical conditions interviewed by Salon last week are already gone. Others are slated to fly out within a week, but are fighting against their chain of command, holding out hope that because of their ills they will ultimately not be forced to go. Jenkins, who is still in Georgia, thinks doctors are helping to send hurt soldiers like him to Iraq to make units going there appear to be at full strength. "This is about the numbers," he said flatly.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x268091

[IndianaGreen]

14. This is a scandal that the Democratic Congress must investigate!

I see every disgruntled soldier as a potential recruit for a mass movement to topple the regime, much as it happened in Russia in 1917.

[sakabatou]

13. Well, gee, I wonder why...

:sarcasm:

[happydreams]

15. If this doesn't take the cake...as in "cakewalk'...

Cakewalk is what Deputy Defense Sect. "Adlebrain" (I can't remember his real name but it sounded alot like this)said Iraq would be. Rummy himself said it would only take about a year to do the job.

Now we are witnessing the destruction of the US military in this cakewalk.
The bastards that started this need to be tried and executed IMHO.