Think Progress

Number of troops in Iraq reaches highest level of war.

Well over four years since the Iraq war began, “the number of US troops in Iraq has hit its highest level since the beginning of the war,” with approximately 162,00 forces currently on the ground. Shortly after the invasion, then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said, “It’s hard to conceive that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would to take to conduct the war itself and secure the surrender of Saddam’s security forces and his army. Hard to imagine.”



60 Responses to “Number of troops in Iraq reaches highest level of war.”

  1. eCAHNomics says:

    And don’t forget the 100,000-plus mercenaries.


  2. Not Canadian says:

    …and it’s STILL only getting worse…

    Heckuva job Dumbya, we knew you were incapable of doing a job you don’t deserve.

    Now do something GOOD for America and go f*ck yourself.


  3. Uncle Ho says:

    Since when ANY of the neocons were correct about ANYTHING?


  4. raynman says:

    “The more targets over there, the less chance they come over here”… to paraphrase a more odious neo-con


  5. MCMetal says:

    162,000 easy targets for everyone to aim at …….Chimpy and Co believe that our soldiers are part of a video game.


  6. Marcus Aurelius says:

    You can’t have insurgents without a surge. Or something like that.


  7. Not Canadian says:

    Wolfie finds it “hard to imagine” anything based in reality.

    Like the fact he would get sh*t-canned at the World Bank!!!

    F*cking loser.


  8. Len says:

    There is real progress on the ground in Iraq. As such, Bush has gotten a bump in his approval ratings on that issue.


  9. Len says:

    162,000 easy targets for everyone to aim at …….Chimpy and Co believe that our soldiers are part of a video game.

    Comment by MCMetal

    No stupid, they are not targets. They have weapons and they will be firing back. Liberals don’t support the troops.


  10. Not Canadian says:

    Hey Len,
    There’s also a Unicorn in your backyard.
    REALLY! Go look.


  11. Marcus Aurelius says:

    There is real progress on the ground in Iraq. As such, Bush has gotten a bump in his approval ratings on that issue.

    Comment by Len — August 7, 2007 @ 12:07 pm

    But a ferret is a different animal alltogether!


  12. Ringo says:

    Number of troops in Iraq reaches highest level of war.
    ———————————————————————–

    Good….Time to kick ass!


  13. guns'n'bibles says:

    Repubs = War Losers = Pussies


  14. Chris L says:

    We also have more civilians in theater than troops. Now that three large chunks of the Iraqi government have left, I have to wonder what the new strategy will be in september when what is left of the Iraqi parliament reconvenes.


  15. SGT Higgins says:

    “It is much more appropriate to have Iraqis guarding banks and guarding power lines”

    Another quote of his in the linked article. How’d that work out Wolfowitz? Anyone come across that $287 million yet?


  16. Not Canadian says:

    Len,
    I can make blanket, false statements just like a Neocon bootlicker like yourself:

    I’ve build a full sized Death Star. Just like in Star Wars.

    And I’m the toothfairy, Santa Clause AND a Wizard.

    Take my word for it. You seem gullible enough…


  17. margaret says:

    We have been so deceived.


  18. clb72 says:

    I feel stupid at work when I send out a document with typos on it. Imagine being the guy whose stupid thing he did at work was mess up a good part of the planet for 100 years or so.


  19. Marcus Aurelius says:

    No stupid, they are not targets. They have weapons and they will be firing back. Liberals don’t support the troops.

    Comment by Len — August 7, 2007 @ 12:08 pm

    Len,

    I think I’m falling in love with you.

    Marcus


  20. toasterhead says:

    No stupid, they are not targets. They have weapons and they will be firing back. Liberals don’t support the troops.

    Comment by Len — August 7, 2007 @ 12:08 pm

    Liberals do support the troops – we want to get them out of Iraq.


  21. barfly says:

    Sorry for interrupting, but Glen Greenwald is on C-span right now.


  22. missmolly says:

    There is real progress on the ground in Iraq.

    Comment by Len — August 7, 2007 @ 12:07 pm

    Some specifics, please? One month of a slightly lower American body count doesn’t quite cut it. Please let us know what benchmarks have been attained. I’ll even take news that a significant portion of Baghdad has been secured.


  23. Marcus Aurelius says:

    What’s with the dropped posts, TP?


  24. mikey r says:

    Good….Time to kick ass!

    Comment by Ringo — August 7, 2007 @ 12:10 pm

    What have we been doing so far?

    Ringo, if your judgment is that we needed more troops to “kick ass” then you must have been protesting the President’s decision to deploy fewer troops than most experts recommended (until they were removed from their advisory positions, that is).


  25. MCMetal says:

    There is real progress on the ground in Iraq. As such, Bush has gotten a bump in his approval ratings on that issue.

    Comment by Len — August 7, 2007 @ 12:07 pm

    Only from the most gullible Americans that do not make up his 25% base ; the biggest imbeciles ever crapped out in US history.

    Proud that you’re one of them , Lenny ?


  26. mikey r says:

    I sense a recycling of troll “talent” — the same tired platitudes, typed by the same underachieving dullards, except that they sign on with different names.

    Except for Ringo, of course. Ringo may be dim, but at least he sticks to one handle.


  27. MCMetal says:

    162,000 easy targets for everyone to aim at …….Chimpy and Co believe that our soldiers are part of a video game.

    Comment by MCMetal

    No stupid, they are not targets. They have weapons and they will be firing back. Liberals don’t support the troops.

    Comment by Len — August 7, 2007 @ 12:08 pm

    I’m not the one that sent them there for frivolous/bullshit reasons , nor do I want them to remain there.
    You’re dopey ass does ; who supports the troops , assclown ?

    I have been writing to my state reps and the White House for years about the stupidity of using Humvees , which were never designed to withstand any type of bomb blast ; I have never received a reply from the Chimpy administration (no surprise).

    Keep trying to talk smack when your head is filled with lies , talking points , and not much else besides fecal matter …………


  28. Zooey says:

    Imagine that….. and yet still not at the troop level Shinseki advised to accomplish……the theft of the oil.

    A complete waste of life.


  29. zhak says:

    It’s hard to imagine Wolfowitz with a girlfriend, but somehow that happened as well.


  30. joe cantwell says:

    hard to imagine this idiot once shaped our foreign policy… hard to imagine!


  31. Uncle Ho says:

    Hiya Zooey! Been burning cds and trying to get some kinks(spyware) out of my computer.


  32. NoOneYouKnow says:

    Wolfie may not be that stupid; he may just have been lying about the number of troops needed, like the rest of Bushco. Remember, Gen. Shinseki was fired by Bush for publicly saying how many troops would really be needed. On the other hand, Bush never sent the number of troops necessary to do the job, so stupid and arrogant may be accurate. Or, they figured if they broke up Iraq, it’d be easier to manipulate the remnants into giving up their oil.


  33. Uncle Ho says:

    Len; liberals DO support the troops. Heck, I WAS a troop(Vietnam).


  34. margaret says:

    Sorry for interrupting, but Glen Greenwald is on C-span right now.

    Comment by barfly — August 7, 2007 @ 12:15 pm

    Does our alert and discerning friend barfly have anything to report? I do not have a tv handy.

    Thank you in advance… : )


  35. mikey r says:

    Len; liberals DO support the troops. Heck, I WAS a troop (Vietnam).

    Comment by Uncle Ho — August 7, 2007 @ 12:29 pm

    Don’t waste your breath. Len doesn’t care. His next move will probably be to denigrate or deny that you ever served.

    By the way, thanks for your service.


  36. Uncle Ho says:

    mikey r; I thank you for your support. – (copyright infringement?)


  37. Mstessyrue says:

    This country and this war are in desperate need of radical changes. First and foremost is the need to pull our troops out of Iraq and stop the violence, poverty and terror that we are creating overseas as well as in our homes. Even now, President Bush would not admit defeat and the fact that this war is a disaster. The Bush administration has yet to recognize the Iraq war is a complete failure and mistake. There are more critical issues that affecting the lives of millions of americans and people world wide that our president is not taking actions against. Now the war has proven to be a failure and is causing more violence, terror and poverty in this world. According to the Borgen Project, it only takes $19 billion dollars annually to eradicate world hunger and poverty. However, our government has already spent more than $450 billion dollars over this fruitless war in Iraq. It is time for the Bush Administration to take a real interest in the lives of the American people as well as people who are in desperate needs around the world. Stop the lies and stop poverty now. Put away the arrogance and put the needs of the people before political gains.


  38. Uncle Ho says:

    “A complete waste of life.”- comment by Zooey.

    Actually, a waste of 3679 lives,(Iraq casualties). or…3679 commas-George W. Bush


  39. Zooey says:

    Hiya Zooey! Been burning cds and trying to get some kinks(spyware) out of my computer.
    Comment by Uncle Ho — August 7, 2007 @ 12:27 pm

    Great to see you back, Uncle Ho. :)

    Actually, a waste of 3679 lives,(Iraq casualties). or…3679 commas-George W. Bush
    Comment by Uncle Ho — August 7, 2007 @ 12:41 pm

    That just makes me ill.


  40. Frybread says:

    This is insane. Even if we had a million troops there is no way we could police the whole country. This is just a tactic so Shrub can keep U.S. forces in Iraq until he leaves office.


  41. Uncle Ho says:

    paul; Why do you HATE America?


  42. Johannes Duns Scotus says:

    Well, it’s a good thing the surge is working… both the dems and reps agree.


  43. Chris L says:

    Also, I was just reading an article this morning about how Basra is deteriorating now that the British are pulling out. I wonder if Bush will oder a second surge as allies draw down?


  44. Chris L says:

    #

    Well, it’s a good thing the surge is working… both the dems and reps agree.

    Comment by Johannes Duns Scotus — August 7, 2007 @ 1:17 pm
    #

    What was the goal of the surge? To cause large factions of the Iraqi government to withdraw? Yep, it is working. To cause Maliki to ask for the removal of Patreus? Mission accomplished. To cause a rise in secterian tensions by arming Sunni militias? Damn, the surge is working. Or to cause an increase in troop deaths over similar periods in previous years? The surge is an astounding success.


  45. charles says:

    I thought they were going to send troops back home?


  46. MCMetal says:

    Well, it’s a good thing the surge is working… both the dems and reps agree.

    Comment by Johannes Duns Scotus — August 7, 2007 @ 1:17 pm

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    @ Your useless Chimpy leg humping moronic ass , trying to use a story from the Weakly Substandard as any type of fact or link.

    Might as well just have shown a White House memo , shithead……


  47. Chris L says:

    #

    I thought they were going to send troops back home?

    Comment by charles — August 7, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
    #

    I thought it was going to be “weeks, not months.” They won’t even send troops home to rest and re-equip or retrain between deployments.


  48. Johannes Duns Scotus says:

    Comment by Chris L — August 7, 2007 @ 1:21 pm

    Do I really need to explain what the goal of the surge is?

    Surely, you must have some idea!


  49. MCMetal says:

    Comment by Chris L — August 7, 2007 @ 1:21 pm

    Do I really need to explain what the goal of the surge is?

    Surely, you must have some idea!

    Comment by Johannes Duns Scotus — August 7, 2007 @ 1:27 pm

    Yes, we do

    No one in this garbage administration does though , Anus Enemus


  50. Reagan says:

    What a coincidence, you guys elect your liberal loonies to power, and there are only more troops in Iraq as a result. So much for a “change of course” hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah


  51. RNC Troll Dept. says:

    A message from the RNC Troll Department:

    Please ignore any and all comments posted by “Reagan”. His posts are not sanctioned by our office and don’t even make sense.

    We suspect “Reagan” is a DNC plant who seeks to discredit our side by posting inane and incoherent messages that make the Right look stupid. Don’t fall for it.

    Thank you.


  52. Bruce Gorton says:

    RNC Troll Dept.

    Since when have trolls had to make sense?


  53. Bruce Gorton says:

    RNC Troll Dept

    Scratch that

    When have trolls actually ever made sense?


  54. Uncle Ho says:

    Chris L; allies? don’t you mean the coalition of the now unwilling


  55. Arroyo says:

    What an incredible waste.


  56. Probus says:

    It doesn’t matter how many troops we put on the ground in Iraq we cannot win this civil war. Bush’ surge has failed. We can’t win militarily anymore. The surge was supposed to give Maliki room to make political progress in Iraq. No political progress has been made. Instead the Sunnis have left the cabinet, and the parliament has made no progress and has gone on vacation while Americans continue to die everyday. It is time to set a date to withdraw all troops from Iraq. It is not part of the war on terror. Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11 or bin Laden. It’s time to get out.


  57. Kilo says:

    Shortly after the invasion, then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said, “It’s hard to conceive that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would to take to conduct the war itself and secure the surrender of Saddam’s security forces and his army.

    And you know what, I bet he feels just the same as he did the first 400 times you mentioned this.
    You know what, he should quit. Oh wait he did ? Quite a while ago ? Oh.

    Meanwhile here’s something you haven’t mentioned yet:

    Washington Post:
    As British Leave, Basra Deteriorates
    Violence Rises in Shiite City Once Called a Success Story — As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources

    Hard to imagine.” 12:01 pm | Comment (56)

    Indeed. The common thread being that nobody in the Bush administration contemplated a prolonged occupation in Iraq.

    Likewise for you and your readers, I guess it’s hard to imagine any downside for Iraq as a result of the immediate withdrawal you promote when you categorically avoid discussing such outcomes.


  58. Kilo says:

    To cause Maliki to ask for the removal of Patreus? Mission accomplished.
    Comment by Chris L — August 7, 2007 @ 1:21 pm

    FYI that was claimed by 1 newspaper and that 1 newspaper got called out on it as complete and utter bullshit…
    http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2007/07/telegraph-swj-best-fiction-awa-1/


  59. Probus says:

    Likewise for you and your readers, I guess it’s hard to imagine any downside for Iraq as a result of the immediate withdrawal you promote when you categorically avoid discussing such outcomes.

    Comment by Kilo — August 7, 2007 @ 7:51 pm

    One of the straw men often invoked by Bush and the GOP is that democrats have advocated a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq. They have not. Democrats have proposed setting a date of 1 year. That is not precipitous in anyway. Bush can’t win this civil war. The State Department spokesman would not say that Bush had confidence in Maliki. Bush knows Maliki can’t make any political progress which is the basis for his surge. The surge has failed. Waiting 6 more months is pointless. Our only option is to get out.


  60. smaterthanyou says:

    When the coalition of the bribed bullied and blackmailed left we had to fill in the gap or turrist would. : i



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