U.S. Troops Repositioned In Iraq
The U.S. command confirmed Saturday it is sending about 3,700 troops from elsewhere in Iraq to Baghdad to try to quell violence in the capital, as reported in this CBS News article. But I'm somewhat confused, as further in the article the troop numbers are increased:
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.
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Read full CBS article here.
However, I like Andy Borowitz's Yahoo News version better. He talks of a 'shell game' and it is funny:
U.S. TO MOVE TROOPS FROM SOUTHERN IRAQ TO NORTH, AND FROM NORTHERN IRAQ TO SOUTH
In a bold attempt to confuse Iraqi insurgents, the U.S. will move 10,000 troops from southern Iraq to the north, and will then move 10,000 other troops from northern Iraq to the south, the Army chief of staff confirmed today.
Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker said at a Pentagon briefing today that the plan, called Operation Shell Game by the Army brass, was the Army's best bet for leaving Iraqi insurgents scratching their heads.
"This is the largest mobilization, re-mobilization and mobilization in U.S. military history," Gen. Schoomaker said. "We believe that the Iraqi insurgents won't know what hit them -- or, what didn't hit them."
In order to move the army units from the south to the north while moving an equal number of units from the north to the south, the U.S. military logged onto Mapquest.com early Friday morning, Gen. Schoomaker said.
While some military experts praised Operation Shell Game as a clever strategy to perplex the Iraqi insurgency, critics of the plan wondered aloud whether the Pentagon is increasingly trying to confuse the American people as well.
Gen. Schoomaker, who paused a full 10 seconds in an earlier press briefing when asked if the United States was winning the war in Iraq -- only to answer, "I don't think we're losing" -- sought to clarify his position in today's press conference: "Right now I would have to say the war in Iraq is a tie."
Tags for this entry: Iraq, U.S., Iraq War.
posted by Annamarie at
11:18 PM
2 comment(s):
I read another piece that basically said this re-positioning essentially kills any talk of any troop withdrawal this year. Just last month the Defense department told Congress that they could start drawing down in the fall, so once again its a bad shell game.
By
Steve V, at
12:48 AM
Indeed it is! That's why Andy Borowitz called it as such: a "shell game".
By
Annamarie, at
1:17 AM
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