When President Bush addresses the nation next week to talk about Iraq, he is expected to announce an increase of troops bound for Baghdad. According to a McClatchy-Tribune News Service story, Bush will commit three to four U.S. brigades of between 15,000 and 20,000 troops.
This is in direct opposition to the recommendation of the Iraq Study Group, which favored a gradual withdrawal. The American people seemed to agree with the study group in November when the Republicans took a “thumpin’,” in Bush’s words about the general election.
Bush had originally wanted an additional 40,000 troops and cut it in half because of popular opinion that continues to grow against the war as the 3,000th American death occurred last weekend, according to a state department official..
Some critics say the three or four brigades aren’t enough to quell the sectarian violence that’s turned into an Iraqi civil war, according to some observers.
According to the state department official, administration officials are debating what the extra troops will do.
Are we missing something here? An additional 20,000 troops will be going to Iraq, but the people sending them aren’t quite sure what they will do? Guessers in Washington figure the troops will be used to secure Baghdad, but we’ll probably not know for sure until Bush speaks next week.
The logic of all this escapes us. The Iraq Study Group report had sensible solutions to the growing Iraq problem but has been ignored by the administration. One of the report’s suggestions included U.S. soldiers in a training role to build an Iraqi military. Apparently that’s off the table now.
To boost the numbers, weary troops will have to increase their time in a combat zone. That will mean longer tours of duty “in country” and will put extraordinary hardships on the nation’s fighting men and women, especially those in the National Guard.
We disagree with the extra troops to secure Iraq because, frankly, we’re not sure it will work. It seems that this move will prolong the inevitable, which is a gradual withdrawal of troops that the study group recommended.
Americans seem to be fed up with this war that seems to have no end. It’s mystifying to see the nation’s leaders embark on a path so contrary to most citizens’ wishes. We’ll see what Bush says next week, but if the advance is true, the president’s proposal is disappointing.
Opinion
More troops is not the answer
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