GyG: Hmmm...Which Of The Following Do YOU Think Does The Most Harm?
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Webb in latest fray over White House policy on troops in Iraq
By DALE EISMAN, The Virginian-Pilot
© July 24, 2007
Last updated: 12:09 AM
WASHINGTON
Virginia Sen. Jim Webb stepped into a politically charged spat between the White House and the top Democratic presidential contender on Monday, joining a group of senators seeking a committee hearing on Pentagon planning for a possible withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Webb's office announced that the freshman lawmaker has co-signed a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich. requesting the hearing.
"The roots of the many problems facing our men and women serving in Iraq were planted by the failure of this Administration to develop sound, realistic plans," the letter asserts. "We cannot afford to repeat the same mistake when our forces redeploy."
The letter grows out of complaints by Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., the Democrats' leading presidential candidate, has emboldened U.S. enemies in Iraq by seeking a Pentagon briefing on a possible withdrawal.
The letter signed by Webb, Clinton and Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., dismisses Edelman's argument as "spurious."
Clinton and other Democrats aren't the only members of Congress pressing for more planning for a withdrawal. Virginia's other senator, Republican John Warner, is co-author of legislation calling on the military to develop plans for a troop redeployment that could begin as soon as the end of this year. Warner's proposal stalled on the Senate floor last week.
Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com
© 2007 HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com
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Deadly hesitation
http://tinyurl.com/yuanag
A U.S. military officer said the Army is still putting out rules of engagement (ROE) that are dangerous and could cause U.S. soldiers to get killed in the war on terrorism. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander in Iraq, recently expressed concerns that soldiers fighting insurgents and terrorists do not have clear guidance on the use of force.
One recent session at the Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Charlottesville included an instructor who taught one class that "we must hesitate and be careful when we pull the trigger," the officer said.
"They are teaching that even following ROE, while not illegal, may not be a good idea," the officer said. "They are teaching that to win the hearts and minds that we may have to take casualties through hesitations."
A Defense official said the problem with hesitation is that it is similar to saying that if a solider is confronted by an armed terrorist, he may have a legal right under the rules to fire but that he should hesitate on the theory that the terrorist could be won over through appealing to their "hearts and minds."
The official said such advice is deadly.
"As statistics show, hesitation in a situation like this gets a soldier killed," the official said. "Second, 'hearts and minds' in counterinsurgency operations refers to winning the hearts and minds of the innocent civilians through protecting them from terrorists."
The official said Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. should find the instructor and have him fired. "Either that or teach him the words to 'Kumbaya' and send him into al Qaeda territory in Iraq, unarmed," the official said.
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