Fwd: Pentagon Tells 35,000: Prepare to Deploy

Another troup escalation, and further extending this illegal war..And
most US citizens are tuned into CSI and paying $3.00+ per gallon for
gas and saying nothing . Where is the outrage?

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has notified more than 35,000 Army
soldiers to be prepared to deploy to Iraq beginning this fall, a move
that would allow commanders to maintain the ongoing buildup of troops
through the end of the year if needed.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday the deployment
orders, which have been signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, do
not mean that the military has made a decision to keep the increased
level of 20 brigades in Iraq through December. A brigade is roughly
3,500 soldiers.

Instead, he said the decision gives the Pentagon the "capability"
to carry the buildup to the end of the year. The replacement forces,
Whitman said, would give commanders in Iraq the
flexibility they need to complete the mission there.

The announcement, said Whitman, has "nothing to do" with a decision
to extend the troop buildup. He said the Pentagon "has been very
clear that a decision about the duration of the surge will depend on
conditions on the ground."

Early this year, President Bush ordered close to 30,000 additional
troops to Iraq to quell the spiking violence particularly in and
around Baghdad. Gates and his military leaders have said that
commanders in Iraq will make recommendations in September on whether
the buildup has been successful, and whether it should continue or if
troops can begin coming home.

There has been increasing pressure from Congress and the American
public to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. Bush vetoed the $124.2
billion legislation that would have funded the war but which called
for troops to start coming home this fall, and lawmakers are
currently crafting a compromise bill.

According to the Army, the combat brigades would deploy for up to
15 months. The Army also said that close to 1,000 additional support
troops from the U.S. Army Reserves would also deploy in August. Those
would come from two units, an engineer battalion from Fort Thomas,
Ky., and a signal battalion from Fort Huachuca, Az.

The 10 brigades are: the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in Germany;
the 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Ga.; the
1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigades of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort
Campbell, Ky.; the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment from Fort Hood,
Texas; the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored from Germany; 4th Brigade, 10th
Mountain Division from Fort Polk, La.; 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry
Division from Hawaii; and the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division from
Fort Hood, Tx.

"Al truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed,
second it is violently opposed, third, it is accepted as self-
evident."

Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860