Like predicted, it’s Bonus Time for The Bush Family and
the Bin Laden family: top shareholders in the Caryle Group
the prolongation of the ” war ” means HUNDREDS of MILLIONS
more for them thanks to the U.S. Government contracts
… Congratulations to both families !
:rolleyes:
Pentagon abandons timetable on reducing Iraq force
By James Harding in Washington
Published: May 5 2004 0:37 | Last Updated: May 5 2004 0:37
The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it intends to keep about 138,000 troops in Iraq until the end of 2005, abandoning plans to reduce the number of forces over the coming months.
In an admission of the deepening and protracted security problems facing the US in Iraq, military commanders extended their commitment of elevated troop levels for a further year and a half.
Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, said the US faces an upsurge of violence in the run-up to the planned June 30 transfer of sovereignty. “This is a difficult period, but our folks are there and are going to stay there,” he said in a briefing.
The Pentagon said 10,000 active-duty army and Marine troops and 37,000 reserve and national guard troops were being told they would go to Iraq this year.
US military command had already delayed by three months its plan to reduce troop levels to 115,000 in May. Mr Rumsfeld said Gen John Abizaid, head of US central command responsible for operations in the Gulf, had since decided to maintain the troop level at 135,000 to 138,000 well beyond those 90 days.
The long-term commitment of elevated troop levels means that the US military, which started despatching soldiers in late 2002, is committing itself to a large deployment in the Gulf for at least three years, probably longer.
Last month the Pentagon said about 20,000 troops who had already served a year and were due to return home would be required to serve an extra 90 days. Mr Rumsfeld made clear on Tuesday that none of those servicemen and women would face a further extension of their tour of duty.
But the decision to maintain higher numbers suggests US military leaders in Baghdad do not expect a near-term improvement in security. The announcement of troop levels also comes before a new Iraqi governing authority has been established. Amid concern that the future Iraqi government will be at the mercy of US money and military power, one of the tests of its authority is seen as the terms of its relationship with US armed forces.
The Bush administration has always denied any connection between policy-making in Iraq and the domestic political calendar. But when the timetable for the handover of Iraqi sovereignty was initially set out, it promised to coincide with the re-election schedule of President George W. Bush: the June 30 handover comes just a couple of months before the Republican national convention and was expected to involve an agreement on troop levels, which would set out the terms for the gradual reduction of forces in Iraq in the run-up to the election, coalition officials privately acknowledged.
The bloody insurgency, however, has banished the hope of bringing large numbers of US soldiers home before November. Instead, Gen Norton Schwartz, director for operations on the military’s joint staff, said on Tuesday the plan was to keep the higher level of forces at least until the end of 2005.