surge

John McCain until recently said that we had enough troops in Afghanistan and that Iraq was the central front in the war on terror. There is a trade-off in troops between Iraq and Afghanistan in that we cannot increase troops for one country (without even longer duty-tours) until we reduce them...

There is no doubt that Bush’s “Surge” in Iraq has been a success in many respects, particularly in reducing the level of violence and getting the war off of the front pages of newspapers. But what does this "success" amount to strategically? Andrew J. Bacevich writes in the Washington Post: It...

Yes, it's true. This headline isn't from the Onion, it's from McClatchy Newpapers: As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch I'll go out on a limb and say that this is a good thing, even if cemetery workers are making less money. Does this mean the surge is working? Can we...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=Am9tkGh.ymwhZX235MLnnu3MWM0F Because I'd hate to think what Iraq would be without its stableizing influence.

What if the surge works? How will we know? One argument against deadlines and early with drawl is that the “terrorists” will just wait till we go and than come out of the wood work…why doesn’t that logic apply to the surge? Why wouldn’t terrorist sit back for a couple of months, let it appear...

No one bought that, did they? http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002704.php So when William Kristol excoriated critics to wait just six or nine months, he was wrong and the critics were right? Wow, a neocon being wrong is sure shocking to see! But how is this a "surge" when in fact this...

Again, the troops are caught in a Catch-22 dreamt up by an administration who (for the most part) never served combat duty. No military solution to Iraq - U.S. chief POSTED: 9:18 a.m. EST, March 8, 2007 BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The new commander of U.S. troops in Iraq has warned that military...

OK. So giving a timeline, no matter how rough, of when troops might be withdrawn from Iraq is bad, because all the insurgents have to do is lay in wait until then. However, estimating when the surge will end is just fine.... Huh? :confused: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2807384

On a thread over in Politics and Current Affairs someone made a comment about surge protectors that implied that they were next-to-useless. It's not the first time I've heard this suggested. I've always been of the opinion that they should help protect your gear from all but a direct lightning...