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May 09, 2007
Uh oh
Guess September won't be the end after all...
Commanders in Iraq See 'Surge' Into '08
Pentagon to Deploy 35,000 Replacement Troops
The Pentagon announced yesterday that 35,000 soldiers in 10 Army combat brigades will begin deploying to Iraq in August as replacements, making it possible to sustain the increase of U.S. troops there until at least the end of this year....
"The surge needs to go through the beginning of next year for sure," said Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the day-to-day commander for U.S. military operations in Iraq. The new requirement of up to 15-month tours for active-duty soldiers will allow the troop increase to last until spring, said Odierno, who favors keeping experienced forces in place for now.
Is this what they call supporting the troops?
Deployments strain troops' mental health
Pentagon panel warns overburdened system could fail to meet needs
WASHINGTON - The military is putting already-strained troops at greater risk of mental health problems because of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, a Pentagon panel said Thursday in warning of an overburdened health system.
Issuing an urgent warning, the Defense Department’s Task Force on Mental Health chaired by Navy Surgeon General Donald Arthur said more than one-third of troops and veterans currently suffer from problems such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
With an escalating Iraq war, those numbers are expected to worsen, and current staffing and money for military health care won’t be able to meet the need, the group said in a preliminary report released Thursday.
Can we call it an escalation now?
UPDATE: Via Think Progress, Rep. Murtha says extensions may actually go to 18 months, not 15. What will be left of our military once Bush is finally gone?
Emphasis added.
Posted by jnfr at May 9, 2007 08:25 AM