Rumsfeld Announces Troop Draw Down

Secretary of Defense Field Marshall Donald von Rumsfeld spent Christmas with the insufficient number of troops he sent to Iraq. While there, he announced that the number of Americans in uniform in Iraq would decline over the next 12 months. Instead of 17 brigades, the US will have 15. It is a start, but enthusiasm must be curbed. American troops won’t be out of Iraq for years, if ever.

The troops with the winning lottery tickets are the First Brigade of the First Infantry Division (the Big Red One), which is currently deployed at home in Fort Riley, Kansas, and the Second Brigade of the First Armored Division, which is deployed in theatre in Kuwait. The current figure for US forces in Iraq is about 160,000, up from the baseline of 138,000 – the extra forces being sent to Iraq to provide extra protection during the recent election. The two brigades that aren’t going to Iraq will bring the baseline figure to around 130,000, as the additional, election-deployed troops are scheduled to leave in January.

No two ways about it, this is good news. According to the administration, this reflects the improved security situation in Iraq. For supporters of the Bush regime, this proves the policy of Vietnamization on the Tigris is working. For those who don’t believe a thing the White House says, fewer troops in Iraq is, by definition, a good thing. Perhaps a handful, like Senator John McCain who still think more troops are needed (the Westmoreland faction), view this as a negative, but everyone else is pleased. (And one hasn’t found the Arizona Senator come right out and say it’s a bad thing as yet).

General George Casey, the top US soldier in Iraq, said, “This is going to be a measured and gradual process that will play out over the next year or two.” Meaning that the best one can hope for is months and months of more of the same. He added, “It’s a step on the way to total independence for Iraqi security forces which will be some time down the road.” That term “some time” is in keeping with the aversion the White House has to a firm timetable.

However, at what stage will Iraq, a nation of 26 million going to be able to stand against Iran a nation of 68 million souls? Especially when 60% of Iraqis are Shi’ite and may fairly be assumed to be non-hostile to Iran’s theocrats, while the balance seems to want nothing of theocracy, a recipe for endless violence. Unless the new Iraqi government or one of its successors comes right out and demands the Yanks get out, there will be several US brigades in Iraq for years. Just as there have been US troops in South Korea for the 52 years since the Armistice on that peninsula serving as a trip wire, American military personnel will be in Iraq as hostages to fortune long after Mr. Bush and the neocons leave office.

© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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