U.S. commander orders plans on Pakistan

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - The commander of U.S. forces in Central Asia has launched planning for more extensive use of U.S. troops to train Pakistani armed forces, a senior defense official said Wednesday.

Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, issued a planning order, an internal instruction to lower-level commanders, to propose ideas for a long-term approach to helping Pakistan combat what has become an expanding, homegrown insurgency that threatens the stability of the government.

Fallon's intent is to develop new approaches to help Pakistan, with a time horizon stretching to 2015, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the order has not been made public.

A central assumption in the planning is that no such U.S. training contribution would be made without the Pakistani government's prior approval, the official said.

Fallon was in Pakistan this week meeting with senior Pakistani military officials.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_afghanistan_pakistan

These people are fully capable of defending themselves with great ferocity. Or do we have some other purpose in mind?

We can't afford any more of this crap. Our economy is collapsing from war debt already.

We've been training Iraqi soldiers with some stunning success since 2004.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2893770

Reduction in U.S. Troops Eyed for '04
Gradual Exit Strategy Tied to Iraq's Stability
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 19, 2003; Page A01
U.S. military commanders have developed a plan to steadily cut back troop levels in Iraq next year, several senior Army officers said in recent interviews.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A46852-2003Oct...

Commander Sees Shift In Role of U.S. Troops
Force Would Focus On Training Iraqis
By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 7, 2004; Page A01
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar, Dec. 6 -- Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region, raised the possibility Monday that U.S. forces in Iraq could start to be reshaped as early as next year to reduce the number of combat troops and concentrate on the development of Iraqi security forces.

Bush faults Iraqi forces
He acknowledges mixed results from U.S. training
David E. Sanger, Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
(12-21) 04:00 PST Washington -- President Bush acknowledged on Monday that, 20 months after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the United States has encountered only "mixed" success in training Iraqi troops to secure the country and that it was "unacceptable" that some Iraqi units had fled as soon as they faced hostile fire.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/1...

The Boston Globe
House report proposes troop withdrawal plan
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | January 22, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A new congressional report lays out a step-by-step argument for withdrawing ''the vast majority" of American troops from Iraq within 12 to 18 months, adding to a growing chorus of members of both parties for President Bush to abort the occupation.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/20... /

Posted 3/28/2005 8:33 PM Updated 3/28/2005 8:39 PM
Iraqi troop training: signs of progress
By Peter Grier, The Christian Science Monitor
Enough progress has apparently been made that U.S. officials are becoming more explicit about when American troops might start coming home. On Sunday, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Army Gen. George Casey, predicted on CNN's "Late Edition" that the U.S. should be able to make a "very substantial reduction" in the number of forces within a year.
Copyright c 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights


U.S. army commander predicts reduction of Iraq troops
3/28/2005 12:20:00 PM GMT
General Casey predicts "very substantial reductions" in U.S. troops in Iraq will be made.
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq predicted Sunday that the U.S. would make "very substantial reductions" in the number of troops there by March 2006.
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=7643


House Passes Inslee Amendment to Lift Funding Limit on Iraqi Troop Training
Accelerates Replacement of American Troops with Iraqi Security Forces
20 June 2005
In an effort to bring American troops home sooner, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee offered and successfully passed an amendment today to help fully fund the training and equipping of Iraqi and Afghan troops. Inslee's amendment removes the $500 million cap that had been placed in the Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act to train, equip and provide assistance to security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.house.gov/inslee/issues/iraq/iraq_troop_trai...

Posted 7/11/2005 6:24 PM Updated 7/11/2005 8:19 PM
U.S. may begin Iraq troop drawdown in '06
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Major reductions in U.S. troop levels in Iraq next year appear increasingly likely, although Pentagon officials said Monday it is too early to predict the specific size and timing.
Michael O'Hanlon, a defense specialist at the Brookings Institution think tank, said the training of Iraqi forces has progressed to the point when they will be capable of taking on a greater part of the responsibility.

Drastic troop cuts are in the Pentagon's secret plans.
Defense decision: Casey and Rumsfeld look to scale down the number of U.S. troops in Iraq
By Michael Hirsh and John Barry
Newsweek
Aug. 8, 2005 issue - The Pentagon has developed a detailed plan in recent months to scale down the U.S. troop presence in Iraq to about 80,000 by mid-2006 and down to 40,000 to 60,000 troops by the end of that year, according to two Pentagon officials involved in the planning who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of their work.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8770418/site/newsweek /


Huge Progress" Made In Training Iraq Troops : US General
Washington (AFP) Nov 07, 2005
"Huge progress" is being made in training Iraqi combat troops, and 24 homegrown battalions have now taken control of assigned territory, the general formerly in charge of the massive program said Monday.
Petraeus said that according to latest declassified figures, 40 battalions of Iraqi soldiers were capable of leading counter insurgency operations with the help of US or coalition troops.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-03-28-Iraq...

Defense official: Rumsfeld given Iraq withdrawal plan
Plan calls for troops to begin pulling out after December elections
Saturday, November 19, 2005 Posted: 0434 GMT
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The top U.S. commander in Iraq has submitted a plan to the Pentagon for withdrawing troops in Iraq, according to a senior defense official.
Gen. George Casey submitted the plan to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. It includes numerous options and recommends that brigades -- usually made up of about 2,000 soldiers each -- begin pulling out of Iraq early next year.http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/11/18/iraq.plan...

Officials more hopeful on Iraq draw down
Posted 11/24/2005 12:19 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Bush administration and military leaders are sounding optimistic notes about scaling back U.S. troops in Iraq next year, as public opposition to the war and congressional demands for withdrawal get louder.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-24-admi...

White House lays foundation for US troop withdrawal
Monday November 28, 2005 3:20 AM
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House for the first time has claimed possession of an Iraq withdrawal plan, arguing that a troop pullout blueprint unveiled this past week by a Democratic senator was "remarkably similar" to its own.
Copyright c 2005 AFP.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/051127/afp/051127192003top.h...


Friday, December 23, 2005; Posted: 2:13 p.m. EST (19:13 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- President Bush has authorized a reduction in U.S. combat troops in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday, talking before troops at Camp Falluja, Iraq.
------------------
This adjustment is an indication of the remarkable progress Iraq is making," the statement said. "It clearly demonstrates the dramatic increase in capabilities of the Iraqi security forces. This move would not have been possible without the dedication, bravery and sacrifice of your Iraqi security forces."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/23/iraq.main/ind...

divide, wedge, separate...and dominate

kinda like the Turkey War with the Kurds

meanwhile US just is helping
its because we don't have the troops

I imagine the Pentagon would like a division or two of "trainers" very close to those nukes, just in case something happens to Mushareff (sp?).