Screwed Again: Rumsfeld Extends Iraq Tours

[blueturk]

"I think as long as the Iraqi security forces continue to progress and as long as this national unity government continues to operate that way and move the country forward, I think we're going to be able to see continued gradual reductions of coalition forces over the coming months and into next year." George Casey - June 11, 2006


US delays departure from Iraq of thousands of troops
Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:45pm ET

(Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday directed about 3,500 U.S. troops who have spent the past year in Iraq to stay up to four months past their scheduled departure date, boosting the size of the U.S. force amid unrelenting violence in Baghdad, officials said.

The move, involving the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Wainwright in Alaska, was the latest sign that any significant reduction in the size of the 130,000-strong U.S. force in Iraq is unlikely any time soon.

Army officials initially said 2,500 soldiers would be extended but later said the number was 3,500.

The Pentagon said Rumsfeld approved a request by Army Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, to keep the 172nd Stryker Brigade, which has operated primarily in the Mosul area in northern Iraq, in the country for up to an additional 120 days.



The Pentagon also identified additional Army and Marine Corps units consisting of about 25,000 troops due to deploy to Iraq in future force rotations beginning later this year.

[Little Texan]

No wonder there are reports of rapes and massacres by some of our troops over there! Not excusing the conduct of a sellect few of the soldiers over there, but they are frustrated with being in a hellhole for over a year, risking their lives fighting in a neverending, pointless war, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in going home after their tour of duty is up, only to be extended for another several months! I would be pissed, too...not to the point of killing a bunch of innocent people like a few troops have, but very frustrated and pissed! I can't imagine what is going through those troops' heads, since I've never experienced war firsthand, but to play devil's advocate here, I can kinda see how some of them could get frustrated to the point to where they would commit such attrocities.

[Phil theStalker]

blueturk, yoo beet Nickdfrresh posting dis.


:spank:

[Cathedral]

My neighbors son just left to go back several weeks ago, and he's happy to go.

He's been over there so long he isn't comfortable anywhere else.
He's also pretty gung ho about killing insurgents.

Talking to him is pretty scary anymore, he's changed and not for the better.
His wife isn't even sure she knows him anymore...

[Nickdfresh]

They call it the 'backdoor draft,' because you have to bend-over for it...

C'mon NeoCons, support our troops by putting a big yellow ribbon magnet on your SUV, & then telling them: "Too bad! you volunteered bitches! Ha ha!"

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by Cathedral
My neighbors son just left to go back several weeks ago, and he's happy to go.

He's been over there so long he isn't comfortable anywhere else.
He's also pretty gung ho about killing insurgents.

Talking to him is pretty scary anymore, he's changed and not for the better.
His wife isn't even sure she knows him anymore...

You know he's going to be psychologically scarred for life, right Cat? The first symptom is inability to reassimilate...

[LoungeMachine]

I suppose this isn't exactly going to please Brie, as he gets pissy when we don't post GOOD news from Iraq.

[blueturk]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine
I suppose this isn't exactly going to please Brie, as he gets pissy when we don't post GOOD news from Iraq.

I don't think that ANY of the sheep will have much to say. It's not easy being a sheep these days....

"I think -- tide turning -- see, as I remember -- I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of -- it's easy to see a tide turn -- did I say those words?" --George W. Bush, asked if the tide was turning in Iraq, Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
You know he's going to be psychologically scarred for life, right Cat? The first symptom is inability to reassimilate...

Oh yeah, his brain is cooked.
He was sent home last time because he was wounded in the hip by RPG fragments, he lost 2 friends in that event.
He now has the "Kill 'Em All" mindset and i don't think he cares who they are at this point.

The only thing he said that was like the old Jimmy was that he came across an insurgent that was around 12 years old carrying a gun.
His frst instinct was that he couldn't shoot a child but he had to because the kid started to raise his gun to shoot him.

Some of the stories he's told have totally freaked me out...I wouldn't have been able to shoot a child, i'd have been dead in that situation.

It makes you stop and think, and i haven't liked myself much lately.

[Nitro Express]

I have a friend who spent a year and half in Iraq. He actually liked it there. He said coming home and trying to be a civilian again was hard. In Iraq he was given authority and responsibility. Back home he's a nobody. In Iraq, his buddies had his back. At home everyone is trying to stab each other in the back.

He told me you don't realize how fucked up the US and it's citizens are until you come back home. He says we are spoiled brats and he's right.

It's getting to be like Vietnam where were stuck there and don't know how to get out and the military and the citizens back home have a chasm developing.

[Cathedral]

Tell your friend that I don't think he's a nobody.
Shake his hand for me and tell him i said, Thank You!

We live in a fucked up society where people don't understand that that uniform will bleed for them if it has to.

I feel for all who have paid the ultimate price, whether they be from my own family or not.
And i pray for those who are still fighting.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by blueturk
I don't think that ANY of the sheep will have much to say. It's not easy being a sheep these days....



You would know. You believe anything the Liberal Mainstream Media tells you.

Anyhow, I guess there is no need to state my opinion on this since others have done it for me. :rolleyes:

People then wonder why there is no honest debate in here...just name-calling.

:(

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian



Anyhow, I guess there is no need to state my opinion on this since others have done it for me. :rolleyes:



:(

This is such a fucking cop-out.

WarBOT uses this all the time.

Just admit you have nothing positive to say about this topic.

Fuck this "I could give my opnion, but I choose not to" crapola.



There's no shame in admitting you're just as pissed off about this as the rest of us.

:cool:

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian

People then wonder why there is no honest debate in here...just name-calling.

:(


This a completely untrue statement.

There IS "honest debate" in here, and if you need me to, I'm more than happy to provide links for you, Brie.

There is ALSO name calling from all sides, Mr. Innocent ;)


It is a combination of debate and name-calling. Is the mix to everyone's liking? doubt it.

Never will be.


This is a glass house we post in, and all of us carry rocks in our pockets.


And for those who "wonder" why there is no honest debate in here............you must be new. :)



Why not lead by example, Brie. Tell us in an honest debate form if you think the redeployment of thousands of troops into Baghdad 3-1/2 years AFTER the "mission accomplished" photo-op is GOOD NEWS.

I think it's indicitive of how bad things are. Not how much they've improved.

That's my honest debate. :cool:

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
You would know. You believe anything the Liberal Mainstream Media tells you.




:lol:

This never ceases to crack me up.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine
:lol:

This never ceases to crack me up.

And it never ceases to amaze me that you don't believe that the Mainstream Media is liberal. That's just too funny. :D

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
And it never ceases to amaze me that you don't believe that the Mainstream Media is liberal. That's just too funny. :D


It's all a matter of perspective, right?


You believe FAUX over NBC

You believe The Washington Times over The Washington Post.


I'd rather listen to Mike Malloy than O'reilly or Limpdick.


One half of the "mainstream media" has a "Liberal" bias, and one half of the "mainstream media" has a "Conservative" bias.


And somewhere in the middle is Jim Lehrer.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine
This a completely untrue statement.

Yeah, there isn't just name-calling. We also have a lunatic that likes to post pictures of his boyfriend in various stages of undress. He's a fag and doesn't count.



There IS "honest debate" in here, and if you need me to, I'm more than happy to provide links for you, Brie.

Few and far between.


There is ALSO name calling from all sides, Mr. Innocent ;)

I never said I was innocent. On the contrary, I direct you to THIS PREVIOUS POST OF MINE. (http://www.rotharmy.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=986082#post986082)


It is a combination of debate and name-calling. Is the mix to everyone's liking? doubt it.

Never will be.


This is a glass house we post in, and all of us carry rocks in our pockets.

It's always been that way. However, the name-calling has taken the lead in this forum.


Why not lead by example, Brie. Tell us in an honest debate form if you think the redeployment of thousands of troops into Baghdad 3-1/2 years AFTER the "mission accomplished" photo-op is GOOD NEWS.



Later. I have to go to a baseball game now.

:cool:

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
And it never ceases to amaze me that you don't believe that the Mainstream Media is liberal. That's just too funny. :D


LOL From the guy who only posts op-ed adds for people that can't form their own opinion, and need to be told what to think...


What facts does the 'Liberal media' lie about? What shouldn't I believe? Any examples?

[blueturk]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
You would know. You believe anything the Liberal Mainstream Media tells you....

:(

So Rummy didn't REALLY shove the back door draft up 3500 American troops asses? Damn! I can't believe I fell for that shit!

"I strongly believe what we're doing is the right thing. If I didn't believe it -- I'm going to repeat what I said before -- I'd pull the troops out, nor if I believed we could win, I would pull the troops out." --George W. Bush, Charlotte, N.C., April 6, 2006

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine


One half of the "mainstream media" has a "Liberal" bias, and one half of the "mainstream media" has a "Conservative" bias.




Uh...no.

I'm talking relevant news programs (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, MSNBC, and PBS) excluding all of the pundits that are on these networks to provide "filler" time.

:)

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine
Tell us in an honest debate form if you think the redeployment of thousands of troops into Baghdad 3-1/2 years AFTER the "mission accomplished" photo-op is GOOD NEWS.

I think it's indicitive of how bad things are. Not how much they've improved.

That's my honest debate. :cool:

"Bad things are?"

I doubt you have any proof of that besides what you hear on the news.

Anyhow, this "backdoor draft" is nothing new. It happened in Gulf War 1 (I knew people that were out of the service and got called back) Desert Fox, and other times that I was in the Armed Forces. We got back from a six month deployment one time (USS Ike) and were back in port all of a week and a half when I had to decide who went back out again for another six because his specialty was needed in another Battle Group: It was between two married guys and two single guys. One of the single guys, the most junior, went.

http://www.todocoleccion.net/fot/d06/2345178_gal.jpg

:)

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
"Bad things are?"

I doubt you have any proof of that besides what you hear on the news.

Anyhow, this "backdoor draft" is nothing new. It happened in Gulf War 1 (I knew people that were out of the service and got called back) Desert Fox, and other times that I was in the Armed Forces. We got back from a six month deployment one time (USS Ike) and were back in port all of a week and a half when I had to decide who went back out again for another six because his specialty was needed in another Battle Group: It was between two married guys and two single guys. One of the single guys, the most junior, went.

:)

BTW, that was a direct result of Clinton's massive military drawdown.

:gulp:

[blueturk]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
BTW, that was a direct result of Clinton's massive military drawdown.

Don't bring yourself down to Warhams's level, BBB.

[blueturk]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
"Bad things are?"

I doubt you have any proof of that besides what you hear on the news...

http://www.todocoleccion.net/fot/d06/2345178_gal.jpg

:)

So what exactly is the news for anyway? Where else would anyone hear about anything happening in Iraq? From White House press releases? I'm sure that the Bush/Orwell administration would be very happy if that were the case, but it's not.

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." —George W. Bush, June 18, 2002

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by blueturk
Don't bring yourself down to Warhams's level, BBB.

The TRUTH hurts, huh?

:cool:

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
BTW, that was a direct result of Clinton's massive military drawdown.

:gulp:

"Clinton's massive military drawdown" began in the 1st Bush Admin...

And Rummy the Dummy is the one that wants to outsource the military to expensive civilians and mercenaries...

[blueturk]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
The TRUTH hurts, huh?

:cool:

I was referring to the flock's practice of bringing up Clinton when there's no valid defense for Dubya'a incompetence, of which Warham is the prototype. If you can defend Bush, do it. Evidently you can't.

[Nickdfresh]

4 U.S. Marines killed in Iraq’s Anbar province
Iraqi border force commander slain; 2 militants killed in airstrike, U.S. says
The Associated Press

Updated: 4:34 p.m. ET July 30, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four U.S. Marines were killed in a Sunni Arab insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, and pressure mounted in parliament Sunday to replace the interior minister because of the security crisis in the capital.

Also Sunday, a U.S. F-16 jet dropped two precision-guided bombs on a building near Baghdad used by militants affiliated with a group believed responsible a mortar-and-rocket attack in Baghdad’s mostly Shiite district of Karradah last week that killed at least 31 people, U.S. officials said.

Two militants and a child were killed in the airstrike, and four suspects were arrested, the United States said. American officials expressed regret about the child’s death and said “terrorists continue to deliberately place innocent Iraqi women and children in danger by their actions and presence.”

“We do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties during these operations,” U.S. spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said. “We deeply regret the loss of an innocent life while eliminating a group responsible for targeting so many other innocent Iraqis.

Four suspects were arrested after the air attack, which took place southwest of Baghdad against extremists who had been staging mortar attacks on civilians, a U.S. statement said.
U.S. troops tracked the militants to a building and “coalition aircraft successfully executed the strike,” the statement said.

Cleric demands Lebanon cease-fire
Iraq's top Shiite cleric on Sunday demanded an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon, warning the Muslim world will "not forgive" nations that stand in the way of a stop to the fighting.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued the call following the Israeli airstrike that killed at least 56 Lebanese, mostly women and children, in the village of Qana. It was the deadliest attack in nearly three weeks of fighting.

"Islamic nations will not forgive the entities that hinder a cease-fire," al-Sistani said, in a clear reference to the United States.

"It is not possible to stand helpless in front of this Israeli aggression on Lebanon," he added. "If an immediate cease-fire in this Israeli aggression is not imposed, dire consequences will befall the region."

Al-Sistani wields considerable influence among Iraq's Shiite majority, which has been outraged by the Israeli attack against Hezbollah and by the U.S. refusal to press Israel for an immediate halt to the fighting.

A warning to TV stations
In Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned television stations against broadcasting footage that could undermine the country’s stability at a time of rising sectarian tensions. The U.S. military announced Saturday that it was moving 3,700 troops from Mosul to Baghdad to try to quell the sectarian violence sweeping the capital.

A statement by the prime minister’s office cited news reports that “capitalize on the footage of victims of terrorist attacks.” He called on media outlets to “respect the dignity of human beings and not to fall in the trap set up by terrorist groups who want to petrify the Iraqi people.”

The statement said the government will take legal action against television stations that do not uphold the code of media ethics. The statement did not elaborate, but it fell short of an earlier al-Maliki warning that he will not hesitate to “shut them down if they do not stop inciting sectarianism.”

There has been an increase in biased reporting by Shiite and Sunni television stations that focus on the suffering of their communities — often with little mention of the other.

In August 2004, the government closed the Baghdad news office of Al-Jazeera television, accusing the station of inciting violence. The office is still closed but the station operates in the Kurdish-ruled area of the north.

Earlier this month, in a visit to Kurdistan, al-Maliki refused to answer a question by an Al-Jazeera correspondent and reportedly rebuked Kurdish officials for allowing the network to operate there.

Mosques attacked
On Saturday, gunmen attacked two Sunni mosques in the Iraqi capital.

Also Saturday, the western regional commander of the Iraqi Border Protection Force, Brig. Gen. Jawad Hadi al-Selawi, was killed in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, police said.

Men in two cars sprayed gunfire at the Muhammad Rassulluallah mosque in western Baghdad shortly after midnight, shattering its windows and damaging its walls, police said. One guard was injured.

An hour later, gunmen stormed into the nearby Ashra al-Mubashara mosque, but fled when Iraqi police arrived, officials said.

Sectarian violence has escalated in Iraq in recent months, with Sunni radicals — including members of al-Qaida in Iraq — and Shiite militias staging tit-for-tat killings. Thousands from both sects have fled the country, according to Iraqi officials.

In Baghdad, six day laborers were wounded when a bomb exploded downtown in Tayaran Square, where the workers had gathered to wait for jobs. Three policemen were also wounded when a roadside bomb struck their patrol in northern Baghdad, police said.

More troops into Baghdad?
The attacks came a day after the head of the biggest Shiite party called for a greater security role for Iraqis in the country in place of Americans. The remarks by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim run counter to U.S. plans to put more American soldiers on the streets of Baghdad to try to curb the surge in sectarian violence.

The U.S. plan calls for moving up to 5,000 additional American troops with armored vehicles and tanks into the capital. Some critics believe the move will undermine confidence among Iraqi forces and expose more U.S. soldiers to attacks by Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.

Al-Hakim, the former commander of the feared Badr Brigade militia, has long complained the Americans have interfered with Iraqi forces' efforts to crack down on Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists. He said the surging violence was due to "being lax in hunting down terrorists and upholding the wrong policies in dealing with them."

Al-Hakim said Sunni extremists and Saddam Hussein loyalists were to blame for the violence.

However, he also endorsed the government's pledge to disband militias, including those affiliated with Shiite politicians.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14086293/