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Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 12:00am Listen to the Generals President Bush wants to send more troops to Iraq to help minimize the violence in the country. Unfortunately, he can only increase his forces by about 35,000 as the military is stretched painfully thin. The Joint Chiefs do not want the additional troops and feel that they will simply give the insurgents more targets.
Nearly four years ago, the Generals begged the President for hundreds of thousands of more troops. The military leaders saw a clear need for additional troops to prevent a surge in violence. The President declined. As a result, thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians died. Iraq has also devolved into a civil war.
Today, the military no longer has the ability to increase troops in Iraq to 300,000+. That would be more than double the current strength. If they could increase troop strength to that number, I believe the violence would come down, but that is no longer possible.
Bush wants the increase and the military does not. The disagreement, in and of itself, is very alarming. Military leaders rarely, if ever, publicly disagree with the Commander in Chief. For them to do so shows the gravity of this situation.
The Joint Chiefs believe that the civilian leadership and the Iraq war is breaking the back of the military. It will surely break if forces are increased now. In the past, it might have been feasible to boost troop levels, but that day has come and gone.
We need to listen to the Generals. I believe and trust these military leaders. I do not trust elitist, rich politicians who sit at their desk in Washington, D.C. worrying about their own hide. In 2003, the administration refused to listen. If they refuse again, the military could very well break.
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