More Troops Heading Out

[weatherwunder]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The first wave of what will be a force of about 30,000 troops from the Army's 4th Infantry Division and other unidentified units will leave Fort Hood, Texas, for Iraq in the next few days.

Another 100,000 ground troops will be deployed to the region next month, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

Officials told CNN the new deployments represent a continuation of the Pentagon's plan and not a change in strategy.

The 4th Infantry soldiers and other forces in the task force have already received deployment orders and the first group was expected to ship out by the weekend.

Other cavalry and armored divisions will ship out next month, officials said.

The new troops will also include more heavy mechanized divisions, the officials said.

[Aslkahuna]

Now THAT'S the biggest clay container full of fecal matter that I've seen written or said about this whole affair in a long time!

Steve

[Stephanie]

Now THAT'S the biggest clay container full of fecal matter that I've seen written or said about this whole affair in a long time!

Steve

LOL!!!

[chadtm80]

LMAO...

[nystate]

2,500 of our troops here at Fort Drum are also deploying. Lets hope everyone stays safe.

[streetsoldier]

The 4th IF was the one that was supposed to have been passed down from Turkey; it was in the area, and now forward elements are already in Kuwait. It has its own heavy armored contingent, which will help greatly in the near future as it debarks and is deployed...as to the remainder, we shall see.

[mf_dolphin]

The 4th IF was the one that was supposed to have been passed down from Turkey; it was in the area, and now forward elements are already in Kuwait. It has its own heavy armored contingent, which will help greatly in the near future as it debarks and is deployed...as to the remainder, we shall see.

I agree Streetsoldier. I don't know why the 4th getting sent is a surprise to anyone. Their equipment had been sitting off the Turkish coast for weeks. They were tagged for deployment a long time ago but hadn't been given the orders to actually ship out until we knew where their equipment would finally land.

The biggest surprise to me is how people expected this to be a repeat of the 91 war. There were a lot of people on this board that said this was an entirely different campaign and to not expect a roll-over. The only hope for a short war was to have gotten Saddam early. We took our shot but now it's time to dig in and get the job done!

[streetsoldier]

No, mf_dolphin, it isn't an instant repeat...for one thing, we were ousting Iraq from occupation of Kuwait, and the battle lines were limited to that area; this time around, we are taking them on in their own backyard.

They have had years to prepare their three secret "security service" units, their fedayeen, their paramilitary Ba'ath Party militias...and placing these thugs and rapists where they can, and will, do the most damage and be most effective against their own people, much less any one who DARE liberate them.

Saddam and his sons, anywhere else on earth, would have long since been either given over to criminal law, or sent into mental institutions involuntarily; in Iraq, the insane ARE running the asylum.

Is any war "easy"? NO. Is there any viable reason for us to be there? YES, and then some. Are we, as a nation, WILLING and preparing ourselves to do what is NECESSARY? That, sadly, remains to be seen.