POLITICS - Iraq, A Difficult and Politically Sensitive Decision

"Pentagon weighs troop demands in Iraq" by ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

The dimming outlook for significant U.S. troop cuts in Iraq means the Pentagon may soon face a difficult and politically sensitive decision: either make more frequent call-ups of some National Guard and Reserve troops or expand still further the size of the active-duty Army, defense officials say.

Army officials had hoped for some troop relief in Iraq in this election year, but the surge in sectarian violence, the persistence of the insurgency and the slow pace of political progress in Baghdad have snuffed out those hopes.

Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces throughout the Middle East, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the military will likely maintain — or possibly even increase — force levels of more than 140,000 troops in Iraq through next spring. The current total is 145,000, up about 20,000 since June.

In an Associated Press interview from Baghdad on Wednesday, Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said it is important to "get people's expectations calibrated" about what can be accomplished in the months ahead.

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If it is decided to stick to the once-in-five-years formula for the Guard and Reserve, then it may be necessary to increase the size of the active-duty Army, the official said. The Army already is on a path to grow by 30,000 soldiers, to 512,000. It expects to end this fiscal year Sept. 30 at about 504,000 soldiers.

Michael O'Hanlon, a defense analyst at the Brookings Institution who closely follows developments in Iraq, said Tuesday the Army should have put itself on a course to grow beyond the 512,000 mark at the outset of the war rather than wait until now. Many in Congress pushed for a bigger increase in the Army, but Rumsfeld argued against it, in part because of the enormous long-term costs.

"Stay the course" Bush says. More taxpayer money, more troops, more American deaths, and for what? No matter what Bush and his cohorts say, it is for Bush's ego. He wants that self-portrait of him; strong jawed, in uniform, with his hand tucked in his military jacket front, "Protector of America." And he doesn't care how many lives, or how much money, is spent on "his" war.