Gen. Peter Pace will recommend that US forces in Iraq be cut in half next year

[Fear_Itself]

Top general likely to urge troop cut

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is expected to advise President Bush to reduce the U.S. force in Iraq next year by almost half, potentially creating a rift with top White House officials and other military commanders over the course of the war.

Administration and military officials say Marine Gen. Peter Pace is likely to convey concerns by the Joint Chiefs that keeping well in excess of 100,000 troops in Iraq through 2008 will severely strain the military. This assessment could collide with one being prepared by the U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, calling for the U.S. to maintain higher troop levels for 2008 and beyond.

Will Bush finally get the message that the US military is nearing the breaking point? Or will he fire Pace and promote a general who will tell him what he wants to hear?

[marshmallow]

@Fear Itself

Or will he fire Pace and promote a general who will tell him what he wants to hear?

From the second page of the linked article:

Pace was not nominated by Bush for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs and will leave the post at the end of September. He is being succeeded by Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the current Navy chief, who has been even more vocal in his concerns about the stresses on the Army.

[Fear_Itself]

@marshmallow

From the second page of the linked article:

Yeah, I saw that. If Pace makes this announcement, I would still say there is a good chance he would leave early.

[marshmallow]

It’ll be “interesting” to watch, certainly. Will Bush stubbornly refuse to withdraw more than is physically required (if even that) in the vain, misguided hopes that Iraq will somehow work out and salvage his catastrophic legacy? Or will he, perhaps at the pressure from the GOP, begin the process of withdrawal – or even just the appearance of a withdrawal – in order to torpedo the biggest issue of the 2008 election in order to weaken the Dems? I say appearance, because it’d be crazy to think he’d actually withdrawal all or even most of them. Just enough to sway public opinion, you understand. I’m thinking late summer of 2008 here, which allows a small enough window of time for the media to work its magic…maybe.

I’m thinking they’ll walk off the electoral cliff on this one. They’ve shown very little signs of contrition.

Also from the article:

According to a senior administration official, the Joint Chiefs in recent weeks have pressed concerns that the Iraq war has degraded the U.S. military’s ability to respond, if needed, to other threats, such as Iran.

Are these people fucking crazy? Tell you what, if Iranian troops land at Miami beach I’ll be one of the first to sign up.

[John_Mace]

Gen. Pace denies will urge troop cut in Iraq

The chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday denied a newspaper report that he will urge President George W. Bush to cut U.S. troop levels in Iraq next year.

“The story is wrong,” Marine Gen. Peter Pace said through a spokesman. “It is speculative. I have not made nor decided on any recommendations yet.”

[RickJay]

@marshmallow

It’ll be “interesting” to watch, certainly. Will Bush stubbornly refuse to withdraw more than is physically required (if even that) in the vain, misguided hopes that Iraq will somehow work out and salvage his catastrophic legacy? Or will he, perhaps at the pressure from the GOP, begin the process of withdrawal – or even just the appearance of a withdrawal – in order to torpedo the biggest issue of the 2008 election in order to weaken the Dems? I say appearance, because it’d be crazy to think he’d actually withdrawal all or even most of them. Just enough to sway public opinion, you understand. I’m thinking late summer of 2008 here, which allows a small enough window of time for the media to work its magic…maybe.

I’m thinking they’ll walk off the electoral cliff on this one. They’ve shown very little signs of contrition.

I’m curious as to what party a U.S. voter could cast a vote for that opposes the war in Iraq.

Because the Democrats sure aren’t doing much of that.

I think we’re all going to be very, very surprised by how well the Republicans will do in November 2008.

[RTFirefly]

@Fear Itself

Top general likely to urge troop cutWill Bush finally get the message that the US military is nearing the breaking point?

No.

To steal Atrios’ line, this is another in a series of Simple Answers to Simple Questions.

Or will he fire Pace and promote a general who will tell him what he wants to hear?

He’s already on his way out the door, and Adm. Mullen will be the new JCS chair. That’s probably why he was willing to speak up.

[ElvisL1ves]

So is this just Pace believing he’s finally at liberty to tell the truth?