U.S. Commanders Skeptical About Bush Surge Plan

Posted on December 20, 2006

President Bush has said he want to send more troops to Iraq in a "surge" movement. But the U.S. Commanders are skeptical -- if not downright hostile -- to Bush's latest plan for Iraq. Secretary of Defense Gates visited Iraq and talked to U.S. commanders and apparently got an earful.

After meeting with top U.S. generals at Camp Victory, Gates acknowledged concerns that rushing thousands more American troops to the battlefront could allow the Iraqis to slow their effort take control of the country. He said no decisions have been made. "It's clearly a consideration," Gates said of how an infusion of American troops might affect Iraqi leaders. "I think that the commanders out here have expressed a concern about that."
Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and one of several generals who met with Gates, said he supports boosting troop levels only when there is a specific purpose for their deployment. Other military leaders have expressed uncertainty over the purpose and results of injecting more troops. "I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea, but what I want to see happen is when, if we do bring more American troops here, they help us progress to our strategic objectives," Casey told reporters during a news conference with Gates and other military leaders.
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Gates was noncommittal when asked whether the sectarian violence in Baghdad can be quashed without taking action against the Mahdi Army of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr is a main supporter of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
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[Gates] expressed concern that the Army and Marine Corps are not large enough to face challenges of the 21st century that might include threats in Iran and North Korea, as well as natural disasters.

General Colin Powell says that we are not winning the war in Iraq, that the Iraq Study Group is correct in its assessment of the Iraq War, and that sending more troops isn't going to help.

Secretary Gates isn't committing himself to any course of action until he has time to study the situation first hand, which is sensible. It's always good to have actual facts in front of you when make the decisions that send people's sons and daughters into battle.