First, the “okay” news: Army Times editorial - Time for Rumsfeld to go.
One rosy reassurance after another has been handed down by President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “mission accomplished,” the insurgency is “in its last throes,” and “back off, we know what we’re doing,” are a few choice examples.
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Now, however, a new chorus of criticism is beginning to resonate. Active-duty military leaders are starting to voice misgivings about the war’s planning, execution and dimming prospects for success.
The White House’s response? Predictably, it amounts to “STFU”:
In a statement released on Saturday, Department of Defense spokesman Bryan Whitman said that “the new ‘chorus of criticism’ noted by the editorials is actually old news and does not include commanders in the field, who remain committed to the mission….The assertion, without evidence, that senior military officers are ‘toeing the line’ is an insult to their judgment and integrity.”
And now, the bad news: Possible Iraq Deployments Would Stretch Reserve Force.
The Army’s National Guard and Reserve are bracing for possible new and accelerated call-ups, spurred by high demand for U.S. troops in Iraq, that leaders caution could undermine the citizen-soldier force as it struggles to rebuild.
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A more sweeping policy shift is under consideration that would allow the Pentagon to launch a new wave of involuntary mobilizations of the reserves, as a growing proportion of Guard and Reserve soldiers are nearing a 24-month limit on time deployed, they said. Army officials said no decision had been made on the politically sensitive topic but that serious deliberations will unfold in the coming months.
Sorry - there is no good news.