US force in Iraq swells to 150,000: Pentagon

[bemildred]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - With the US death toll in
Iraq passing 100 this month and mid-term elections just days away, the
Pentagon said the US force in Iraq has grown to 150,000 troops, the biggest it has been since January.

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The increase is noteworthy because US troop strength in Iraq is only 10,000 under the all-time high of about 160,000 reported in January after the Iraqi elections.

It had fallen to as low as 127,000 in June when US commanders still believed they could make troop cuts this year.

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But the stepped-up operations have so far failed to bring the violence under control in Baghdad or stop its spread to other cities, prompting a review of military tactics.

Yahoo

[brer cat]

1. Get them out now!

Those sons are mine, those daughters are mine, the grandchildren are mine. GET THEM OUT NOW!

Don't swell the troops, GET THEM OUT!

[LynnTheDem]

2. So much for that "down to 30,000 by summer of 2003" huh.

Same shit happened in 'Nam. Always "turning the corner", always "last throes", always "troop levels will be reduced by..."

And bush is a stupid MFer.

[daleo]

3. 150,000 targets. n/t

[saigon68]

14. Sniper Targets

[TexasLawyer]

4. While "coalition of the temporarily willing and the bribed"

forces dwindle down to nothing.

[w4rma]

5. McCain did say he thought an extra 20,000 troops would get the job done.

I suppose he got his wish about getting the troops into Iraq.

[arewenotdemo]

6. Of course, McCain also believes that America won the Vietnam War

Not sure being a POW can account for that level of delusion/denial/stupidity.

[Major Hogwash]

7. 22,000 more are stationed in Afghanistan and 40,000 are on ships in the Gulf.

So, yeah, we're stretched pretty thin now thanks to Bush and Rumsfeld.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

10. 40,000?

How many ships do we have out there now?

[arewenotdemo]

8. Iraqis must be "standing down"

as Americans are standing up.

[Az_lefty]

9. we could put every one of them in Baghdad and still not control the city...

what a waste...

[lpbk2713]

11. Now what was that about *Mission Accomplished*?

Rush

[Guitarman]

12. We would need three times that many to effectively deal with the insurgency.

Dumsfeld has micro managed this abortion from the get go and it has been effed up ever since.

[Supersedeas]

13. so will McCain admit that he is wrong with this # is still not enough to secure the

country