How The Surge Is Happening

Greyhawk has a breakdown of how the so-called surge is being accomplished. For those readers who are not really all that familiar with the military, it is a good primer on how these things are done. For regular readers, you already know about some people "staying late".

And there you have it. Some troops already tapped to deploy will now go a few months early. Some troops in country will stay late. No troops will move into Iraq who weren't already scheduled to go to Iraq.

So is "The Surge" a simple numbers game, a bit of sleight of hand to make it appear we're doing something that we aren't? No - there will be a real increase in troop numbers in Iraq - especially combat troops and especially in Baghdad - until such time as the units currently in Iraq (and extended as part of the surge) start coming home.

And that is "The Surge". While naming it provides something "tangible" to oppose, if there was some way to "stop it" - short of withdrawing immediately from Iraq - the same troops would go to Iraq,

…just on their normal schedule and in time to hive-five the folks they will replace instead of reinforce. Those newly arrived troops will be completely up shit creek, of course, as no one in Iraq is going to take them at all seriously.

That's assuming not too much damage has already been done with the political grandstanding of the past week. Meanwhile, lost amid the hoopla surrounding those press conferences scheduled at half-hour intervals…..

Our politicians are not doing the country or the troops any good with their grandstanding show of internal political disarray. In fact they are doing harm to both.