Surge
So, we have been told by the chickenhawks in D.C. that the current troop surge in Iraq is going well. What do the actual soldiers think? The Army Times decided to ask:
"Troop surge in Iraq:
The White House and Congress have debated whether the president's Iraq strategy -- sending a surge of U.S. troops to quell the violence in Baghdad, starting this past spring -- is an effective one. How much time should the surge strategy be given before the government assesses how well it's working?
Until September
15.11 % (558)
Until November
9.78 % (361)
Until next spring
17.39 % (642)
It's clear now that it's working
21.32 % (787)
It's clear now that it's not working
36.40 % (1344)
How could we interpret this data? An apologist for the Bush regime might claim that more than 73% of these readers are willing to give the surge at least a few more weeks. A skeptic might infer that more than 78% remain unconvinced of the strategy's ultimate value. In any case, this same publication has pointed out an inherent weakness in the strategy-- not enough "boots on the ground." Army Times reporter Jim Tice points out how a new "short-notice call-up of former recruiters" was ordered Friday, 7/27/07:
Under that surprise program, 1,106 former detailed recruiters are being pulled from their current assignments with stateside units to temporarily support a final recruiting push for fiscal 2007.
Recently, the Army’s regular recruiting force of 6,500 noncommissioned officers has struggled to meet monthly goals, and it now appears possible the service will fall short of the mission of 80,000 for the budget year that ends Sept. 30.
Recently, the Army’s regular recruiting force of 6,500 noncommissioned officers has struggled to meet monthly goals, and it now appears possible the service will fall short of the mission of 80,000 for the budget year that ends Sept. 30.
In the meantime:
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