Top Troop Request Up to 60,000

[laststeamtrain]

Source: WSJ

OCTOBER 9, 2009

Top Troop Request Up to 60,000
Commander Prefers 40,000 for Afghanistan, but His Report Gives Obama 3 Options

By PETER SPIEGEL and YOCHI DREAZEN

WASHINGTON -- The request for troops sent to President Barack Obama by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan includes three different options, with the largest alternative including a request for more than 60,000 troops, according to a U.S. official familiar with the document.

Although the top option is more than the 40,000 soldiers previously understood to be the top troop total sought by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. officer in Kabul, 40,000 remains the primary choice of senior military brass, including Gen. McChrystal, the official said.

The details of the three scenarios were first reported by ABC News and confirmed by the U.S. official. The third option presented to Mr. Obama would be only a small increase that would keep U.S. forces largely at their year-end levels of 68,000 troops.

The troop request is expected to be deliberated today at Mr. Obama's fifth cabinet-level meeting of his war council amid indications of growing official unease about such a significant escalation.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125504448324674693.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

[tabatha]

1. They are trying to bankrupt the Obama admin.

And make the military unhappy.
Playing politics with military lives.

[lib2DaBone]

2. More Aluminum Caskets coming back in transport airplanes...

..covered in cheap American flags ... flags which are made-in-china....

Mr and Mrs. America.. is this good enough for you?

[tomm2thumbs]

3. may as well double it to 120,000 because Obama said he'd listen to the generals & they know it

I think at some point if he doesn't change the mission, they are going to change him.

[Arctic Dave]

4. Fuck Afghanistan, Fuck Iraq, get the fuck out.

Why is this hard to get through people's head?

[dr_aswan]

5. When does Afghanistan "officially" become Obama's war?

He asked for it during the primaries, IMO its in his lap, now we all need to wait and figure out how we get out of it....

[pfitz59]

6. another $100 billion and.......

countless lifes sacrificed. what are these clowns thinking?

[obliviously]

9. They aren't thinking

The number of enlistments is down. Look for a draft in the near future.

[Igel]

15. That's a bit counterintuitive.

http://counter-recruitment.blogspot.com/2009/03/down-economy-boosts-military-enlistment.html

http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/07/01/23779-army-limits-re-enlistment-options-for-rest-of-fiscal-year/

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/05/13/military-enlistments-up-are-these-the-first-stimulus-jobs/

And, since obviously there was a huge drop-off by late summer, there's

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12964
Note that I'd expect September figures to be out shortly, but given 8 months of at or above goals for retention and for recruitment, I don't think that we're in for a draft by early next week.

[obliviously]

16. This has the smell of something

that will last years. A week is meaningless,nothing!

[Grassy Knoll]

7. The more we send the more they kill....

Do it with drones or something, but this will last another 10 years.
This is NOT american pride, this is so BUSH FUCK and the REFUCKS don't look bad.
Plus who is making all the money on this war ?

[Zoeisright]

8. Where are we going to get 60,000 more troops?

What are we talking about here - 5, 6, 8 tours of duty in just a few years? That's just a sin.

[MilesColtrane]

10. What is the mission, Mr. President?

If it's to break up Al Qaeda and capture or kill its leaders, that opportunity is probably gone.

Most of the leadership is in Pakistan now.

If the mission is to build a functioning country out of Afghanistan, well...good luck with all that. No one's been able to do it yet.

There's got to be a better approach than Middle Eastern Whack-A-Mole.

[Stumbler]

11. Learn from the past or be doomed to repeat it: Pull Out NOW!

There's a reason it's known as the place empires go to die... Pull our troops out, or at the very least give 'em money to build schools and hospitals as we exit slowly. An escalation now, nine years in with no definition of "success" will ensure Obama's single-term presidency.

[rollingrock]

12. The Grand Chessboard?

its actually scary how the Obama administration is following the book's geopolitical blueprint to the letter. it's totally obvious to anyone familiar with the book, no conspiracy theory required.

[tomg]

13. This all is reminiscent of a song I

heard back in 1966 by Tom Paxton, of which this was the chorus:

Lyndon Johnson told the nation,
"Have no fear of escalation.
I am trying everyone to please.
Though it isn't really war,
We're sending fifty thousand more,
To help save Viet nam from Viet Namese."

When I saw him do it years ago, he added more numbers with each chorus. If we are not on our way out soon, it is back to the streets.

edit: left out out

[Solly Mack]

14. K&R