The President is set to decide in the next few days whether or not it would be a good idea to increase the U.S. troop presence in Iraq. This, obviously is not a good idea, given the fact that Iraqi insurgents stepped up attacks last time there was a troop increase in Baghdad, and for once I have U.S. generals to back me up. What Bush has decided to do, however, is increase the size of the Army & Marines.
Bush seems to be standing alone on this one. However, being the determined fellow he is, he's sent newly-appointed Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Baghdad to get military leader's opinions on the subject. General John Abizaid, who commands all the U.S. soldiers in the middle East, does not agree with the idea of an increase in troops, as he told a Senate Committee last month. Interestingly enough, Gen. Abizaid, along with Gen. George Casey (commender of all U.S. troops in Iraq) are planning to resign in the coming months. While CentCom says that Abizaid's resignation has been a long time coming, I have to wonder whether or not it was "encouraged", especially after he came out and disagreed with an increase in boots on the ground. In the interest of fairness, he also disagreed with a decrease in troops.
Former General & Secretary of State Colin Powell also disagrees with the Presidents proposal to a troop increase. Powell says that the military is overextended and "about broken". However, being the ever-loyal soldier, Powell hasn't gone as far as saying something along the lines of "We've screwed up", "The President didn't think before he leaped", or "Oops!"; hopefully he will before too long, especially at the rate he's speaking out.
I really, really hope Bush doesn't go out on his own, forging ahead with out listening to the military officers who actually know what they're talking about. But Bush will be Bush.
-Adam
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