Casey: Army Needs ‘Three Or Four Years’ And ‘Substantial Resources’ To Recover From Iraq War
Casey: Army Needs ‘Three Or Four Years’ And ‘Substantial Resources’ To Recover From Iraq War
Gen. David Petraeus has repeatedly stated that he would like the U.S. to be in Iraq for 9-10 years. “[T]he average counter insurgency is somewhere around a nine or a 10 year endeavour,” he said in July.
But in a press conference yesterday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey indirectly dealt a blow to Petraeus’s plan, stating the Army would continue to be “out of balance” as long as U.S. troops occupy Iraq.
Casey reemphasized that that the “current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply,” leaving the U.S. unable to handle future threats. He elaborated on the long-term commitment it will take from the U.S. to restore our forces to peak capability.
It’s going to take us three or four years and a substantial amount of resources to put ourselves back in balance.
Under the current strain, the Army must “reset,” or restore forces “in a period of persistent conflict.” These resets require a substantial commitment from the U.S. “It takes about $13 billion dollars to reset a 15 brigade size force plus their enablers every year,” he said.
Casey’s “three to four year” time frame, however, depends on the rate of withdrawal from Iraq. Responding to a question about how long after the war would the Army need to continue paying for reseting its forces, Casey stated:
We’ve said two years. And that’s right. The question is, when does the conflict end? … As forces begin to draw down, there’s still going to be a need to reset those forces.
Watch it:
Casey also said he would like to increase dwell-time between deployments and “come off a 15-month deployment” for U.S. troops. Such a measure was proposed by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) last month, but conservatives blocked the amendment, buckling to pressure from the administration.
Ironically, while Petraeus is pushing for a decade-long occupation, he has “agreed the military was stretched too thin, and the Army likely would not be able to respond if trouble arose in another part of the world.”
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41 Responses to “Casey: Army Needs ‘Three Or Four Years’ And ‘Substantial Resources’ To Recover From Iraq War”
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Casey's a fake soldier: Rush.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:04 pmLook for Bush to "retire" Casey at the same time Steinbrenner retires Torres.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:05 pmMost the rednecked goobers I know here in Texas think the Army is more than fit to march right on into Iran and KICK SOME ASS, MAN!!!
lol
October 9th, 2007 at 8:10 pmIt's broken.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:17 pmFix it by getting the hell out of the middle east, like now!
Sorry dude, you screwed, we will always be at war with Eurasia. King George decrees it so.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:20 pmThe violence in Basra, in the south of Iraq, has eased since the British began withdrawing forces.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:20 pmCasey made the case...
October 9th, 2007 at 8:20 pmCasey also said he would like to increase dwell-time between deployments and “come off a 15-month deployment†for U.S. troops. Such a measure was proposed by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) last month, but conservatives blocked the amendment,
But But But...five day work weeks are tooo hard for us!!!
And And And And 15 month deployments are too easy for them!!
-GOP logic/hypocrisy
/snark
October 9th, 2007 at 8:20 pmOk, the British say that Basra is much calmer with less violence since they have pulled out half their troops. That sounds a lot like a success to me.
Then we have the Iraqi government that says there no way in hell they are going to "reconcile". Now why are we in Iraq? Why don't we follow the lead of the British and pull our troops out and allow Iraq to settle down and decide for themselves what they want to do with their country. Bush has run out of excuses for being in Iraq. And the American public has run out of patience. Not to mention one of these days we may just need these guys here to defend us from Bush's private army.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:21 pmGeorge W. Bush has squandered America's most precious national defense asset: the threat of effective military action.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:21 pmI think their idea is to just bomb Iran. Obviously they can't put troops into Iran. It's a simple physical impossibility. We don't have any more troops to send there.
The problem with this(well, one of many) is that just dropping some bombs on Iran won't satisfy them. How will they know that it worked? How will they know they they really got ALL the sites? They won't. And in another year or two they'll be agitating to do it again.
In the mean time, most likely, all hell will have broken loose over there in reaction to our bombing.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:22 pmThe violence in Basra, in the south of Iraq, has eased since the British began withdrawing forces. Comment by Nevar — October 9, 2007
Lies Lies Lies!! There will be mayhem and genocide and the terrorists will follow them home!!! The surge is working!!
[loonative acting class]
October 9th, 2007 at 8:22 pmI would imagine if we started to dismantle the empire of military bases we have around the globe it would be fixed faster. In this day and age is it really necessary to have over 700 bases?
October 9th, 2007 at 8:27 pmlol, nicely done, Xisithrus.
This is the reason I would like to see Wes Clark as the nominee's running mate. We need someone in there who can repair our military and get us back on track. Just throwing that idea for discussion.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:36 pm[loonative acting class]
Comment by Xisithrus
I did have to laugh when Bushwhack came out with
October 9th, 2007 at 8:44 pm"The British were doing a poor job..."
Can you spell:
And yes, I include Democrats. What have they done to stop the war? No filibusters, just caving into Bush's demands, all...the...way....
October 9th, 2007 at 9:02 pmDamn that phony Casey. He's emboldening the enemy! He probably wears that uniform when he drives buses on weekends. Damned phony!!!!
October 9th, 2007 at 9:40 pmYou think the US military was broken after Vietnam stay tuned for post Iraq....
Bush/Cheney have put the great USA military machine in a precarious position if China or a resurgent Russia starts flexing its muscles well then...
Unlike the 1970's the USA is now the BIGGEST a debtor nation by far i.e. foreign countries own something like $2-3 trillion of USA assets.
But Bush/Cheney don't give a rats ass because W will be in a compound in Paraguay and Cheney in a undisclosed compound somewhere laughing their asses off.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:40 pmExactly what Bin Laden claims he did to bring down the Soviet Union: kept them fighting in Afghanistan until they're broken (financially and militarily).
Sucker 'em in and they won't know when to leave until it's way too late.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:43 pmHOORAW!
Exactly what Bin Laden claims he did to bring down the Soviet Union: kept them fighting in Afghanistan until they’re broken (financially and militarily).
Sucker ‘em in and they won’t know when to leave until it’s way too late.
HOORAW!
Comment by Bob — October 9, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
If I'm not mistaken, it's not just what bin Laden claims. It's what the CIA specifically TRAINED him to do. It is the specific sort of insurgency tactics we taught him. Hit and run. Hide. Drag out an occupation to drain their military.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:46 pmWe all know that Hillary, Obama, Edwards, etc will keep us there for AT LEAST 6 more years!
So much for the Nov referendum!
Comment by John Kerry — October 9, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
we don't know anything of the sort. You hope that the Dems are as venal and stupid as the repigs, but there's no proof of that; in fact, just the opposite. You sound really scared that we're going to have a free country here sooner than later. perhaps it's time for you to move to North Korea.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:47 pmBasra isn't necessarily secure. Here's a passage from Juan Cole's site:
October 9th, 2007 at 9:47 pm" In turn, one could imagine a perilous situation emerging in Basra (population 1.5 million), dealing with which would require more than 1250 troops.
Some observers worry that the British contingent could get so small that it might be overwhelmed by militant Shiite militiamen, and be forced to evacuate by helicopter, as in the last days of the US in Saigon."
Cole also states that he can see US troops moving into Basra in the future.
We all know that Hillary, Obama, Edwards, etc will keep us there for AT LEAST 6 more years!
So much for the Nov referendum!
Comment by John Kerry — October 9, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
Somwhere along the line, ya think a numb-nutted fool like this one would actually start to worry about what this will do to the country down the road.
Talk about an UNAMERICAN POS!
October 9th, 2007 at 9:48 pmCole also states that he can see US troops moving into Basra in the future.
Comment by lefttown — October 9, 2007 @ 9:47 pm
proving, once again, that we can't possible "win" in Iraq. Time to go.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:50 pmLike many aspects of American life, our overuse of the troops is unsustainable. I feel so much safer now!
October 9th, 2007 at 9:58 pmSomeone needs to tell everyone there is no "war".Not even close.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:04 pmSomeone needs to tell everyone there is no “warâ€.Not even close.
Comment by Johnsnottoodistracted — October 9, 2007 @ 10:04 pm
Uhhhh... there's a war going on, John... it's jes' not the one they're pretendin' it is... that's all...
October 9th, 2007 at 10:25 pmComment by Candyce — October 9, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
I been practicing being a loonative, its makes my head hurt though cause being a hypocrite is really hard work!
I can see why MR P and Daryll and Jake can only post to/on certain threads.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:27 pmWell, guess what. Gen. Petraeus may get his wish concerning a second front. According to Juan Cole one of the primary reasons the British are pulling out of Basra is because their troops in Afghanistan are getting shot up and they need to send in reinforcements.
Soon, I suspect the American's will be facing the same problem in Afghanistan.
http://www.juancole.com/
So, where does that leave us regarding Iran? Oh, we can bomb the hell out of them then set back and watch them fight one another. Now that is some plan. Are you buying in Gen. Petraeus? You have been a yes man down the line so far.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:42 pmI can see why MR P and Daryll and Jake can only post to/on certain threads.
Comment by Xisithrus — October 9, 2007 @ 11:27 pm
Whilst this might be entertaining at first, ya better be careful. Ya might do some permanent organic damage to yer neurons or sum'pin.
'Member when ya wuz li'l and they'd tell ya not ta cross yer eyes on purpose 'cause they might get stuck like that...????
October 10th, 2007 at 12:40 amCALLER 2: No, it's not, and what's really funny is, they never talk to real Army Chiefs of Staff. They like to pull these Army Chiefs of Staff that come up out of the blue and talk to the media.
LIMBAUGH: The phony Army Chiefs of Staff.
CALLER 2: The phony Army Chiefs of Staff. If you talk to a real Army Chiefs of Staff, they are proud to serve. They want to be over in Iraq.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:43 amI feel a draft.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:56 amAnd let's remember, we're not losing with 160,000 troops--we're losing with 320,000 troops, contractors/mercenaries included.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:57 amPetraeus:
“[T]he average counter insurgency is somewhere around a nine or a 10 year endeavour,†he said in July.
Okay, does ANYONE have any idea where he came up with THIS figure? How many "counter insurgencies" have there been to develop a "nine or ten year" figure? What exactly qualifies as a "counter insurgency"?
October 10th, 2007 at 2:47 amOf course, I suppose he could have gotten that figure from the same place that Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly get theirs.
I suppose he could have gotten that figure from the same place that Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly get theirs.
Comment by JosephW — October 10, 2007 @ 2:47 am
Out of his rear end???
October 10th, 2007 at 3:06 amWow. 450 Billon Dollar$ a year and a Billion dollar$ per week in Iraq and we get a broken military!
What a great deal!
Department of Defense? What a joke. Who are we being defended against? The Bosnians? The Germans? The Koreans? The Japanese? The Iraqis? The Afghans? Meanwhile the Saudis own about 7% of our stock market and got us to get the hell out of their country over a dozens Saudis hit us on 9/11.
Hundreds of Billion$ every year couldn't stop some guys with knives.
Meanwhile the average age of the Coast Guard fleet is 35 years. That's the average. Some are more than 50 years old.
October 10th, 2007 at 3:25 amUS condemns American Electric Power to 4.6bio$-Yohoo without Kyoto though-Jimmy Carter is alive
October 10th, 2007 at 6:08 amSarkozy and Putin bridge gap on Iran
October 10th, 2007 at 7:39 amSCANDAL! The same day Rice writes embassy on schedule, embassy halted indefinetly
SCANDAL! Condoleeza Rice is trying to shift blame the easy way insinuating to Waxman hes not up to prosecuting her misconceptions
http://ccoaler.blogspot.com/2007/10/us-embassy-baghdad-waxman.html
October 10th, 2007 at 8:08 amSomewhere the sun is shining, somewhere children shout, but there is no joy in Mudville, Bush is kicking Casey out!
October 10th, 2007 at 8:20 amGeneral Petraeus is supposedly an intelligent man. He evidently didn't learn anything from the recent history of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Are we on a similar path?
October 10th, 2007 at 10:33 pm