Friday, January 05, 2007

Surge!

Where is President Bush's predicted surge of Iraq troops going to come from?

Quoted from the Iraq Study Group Report:
Nearly every U.S. Army and Marine combat unit, and several National Guard and Reserve units, have been to Iraq at least once. Many are on their second or even third rotations; rotations are typically one year for Army units, seven months for Marine units.
Are there 20,000 combat troops free, unspoken for in other parts of the world? Are troops going to be called up for their third and fourth rotations? We don't believe, Chip Rangel notwithstanding, that there's any real chance of the draft being reinstated. But, beyond that, we just don't know where these twenty thousand men are.

[Edit: WSJ Editorial Board member Robert Pollock says that you could increase the number of troops simply by cutting everyone's vacation:
"[A]ll that means is decreasing the length of some breaks from tours of duty and increasing the lengths of some tours of duty." Pollock added: "That's not a hard thing to do."
So it's not a question of bringing in fresh troops - it's putting additional strain on the troops already there. That makes sense.]

Also:

April 2004 Deadliest Month for U.S. Troops in Iraq

October [2006] On Pace To Be Deadliest Month In Iraq War for U.S. Troops

December [2006] Deadliest Month in Iraq War for U.S. Troops

Why even change the typesetting at this point? "This month has been the deadliest for U.S. troops in Iraq since, well, the last time it was the deadliest."

(Note: this should not be confused with the deadliest month for Iraq civilians - currently July 2006)

Our prediction is made: if truthiness was the Word of the Year for 2006, then 2007's Word will be deadliester.

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