Some interesting issues raised in this article.... have a looksee below...
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The US is considering introducing a limited military draft if it is to keep its present force levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pentagon advisers have warned British colleagues. Next month, US forces in Iraq will peak at around 170,000, and GIs in the new units are being told they could be on operations for at least 15 months.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Americans have been faced by the grim statistic that in the year since the last Memorial Day, very nearly 1,000 US military have been killed in Iraq, and many more wounded. These are the worst casualty rates since the coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003.

British Army chiefs are mulling over a new report that reservists, mainly from the Territorial Army, are suffering combat stress worse than regulars because of lack of attention when they return home. Commanders are concerned by the high rate of young officers applying for voluntary redundancy when they return from Iraq and Afghanistan; in some frontline infantry battalions the rate of officers applying for early retirement is as high as 17 per cent.

"Morale is very high in these regiments when they are actually on operations," said a senior officer, speaking anonymously, "but the officers just say they've had enough, and they want to do something else now, thank you."

US-led operations in Iraq appear to have reached yet another turning point with the American commander, General David Petraeus, due to hand to Congress a report on his latest strategic thinking. He appears to have given up on the so-called 'surge' which has brought an extra 21,000 US troops to central Iraq. According to advance reports from Baghdad, the surge has failed because the Iraqi government and forces were not prepared to fulfill their promise to back it in word and deed. Last week, a US patrol shot dead an Iraqi in the act of concealing a roadside booby trap bomb – and

discovered his identity card showed he was a sergeant in the new Iraqi army.

Gen Petraeus's plan B seems to focus on 'soft' power, getting the combatants inside Iraq - with the exception of al-Qaeda groups - to talk to each other and their sponsors in the neighbourhood, principally Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Yesterday saw the first face-to-face diplomatic negotiations between the US and Iran since Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic Revolution in Tehran in 1979. The US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, met his Iranian opposite number, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, for four hours. The meeting was reported to be businesslike – though Crocker took the opportunity to warn Iran against arming the Shia militias and other extremists in Iraq.

Though the two sides agreed to a re-match of the meeting, it is clear they are pretty far apart. The US has been formally warned by Tehran for running spies and saboteurs in Iran's border provinces. There seems little chance than Iranian Revolutionary Guards are going to stop arming and training Shia militants against the British in the Basra sector.

To mix a metaphor, both the Americans and the British seem caught in a drifting impasse now in Iraq. They cannot go forward, nor suddenly pull out, for fear of triggering a major regional war – for which all the combustible ingredients are in place. Both London and Washington face the issue of forces and equipment reaching exhaustion point by this time next year.

Now even the Democrats in Congress have stepped back from setting a deadline for American forces to withdraw from Iraq. The only voices arguing for a sensible timetable are the two Democrat presidential front-runners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The question for Britain now is whether Gordon Brown will follow the messianic policy laid down by Tony Blair, or cut loose and follow the counsels of Hillary and Barack.

The question is more than intriguing. It could be vital, and a lifesaver for our forces

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"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

With devoted soldiers, we could do it all with a fourth of our current troop level...

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We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must conquer or perish. It is vain to look for present aid. We must now act or abandon all hope! Rally to the standard, and be no longer the scoff of mercenary tongues! Be men, be free men, that your children may bless their father's name. - Sam Houston

Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee

How so? Generals initially, in 2003 advised that a force of 4 to 5 hundred thousand would be needed for an occupation. They got, what, about 150 000 and failed and continue to be stagnated.

How can you succeed with substancially less than that?

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Humans, a renewable resource?
Bumble Bees Die to sting you

PreInvasion, I think the resource requirements were severly underestimated in the Iraqi compaign.. It takes a combat strike force to take the country, and this element was executed effectively.. however with the decision to disband the Police and Army of Iraq, the numbers needed for peacekeeping was/is huge, and this along with the appearant lack of formalised training in peacekeeping tactics for the regular US soldier left a vacum which has caused enormus problems since... Petreus seems to have a good appreciation for counter insurgency, so the remedy is in play.. this is where I can agree with you on numbers... however, next phase is peace keeping, and increased numbers of men, not decreased numbers is needed to bed down the new Iraqi Army, and stabilise the region pre departure...

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"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

I probably should have put quotation marks around that. It's from something I heard on Apocalypse Now...I don't know what I think of it...

If you're talking complete occupation of Iraq, then yeah it'd take a lot of people. But I don't think putting more troops in will get us out any sooner...Iraqi police and military need to pull their asses together so they can do their own jobs.

But yeah, I'm not saying our troops aren't well trained or anything, but if you take the time to teach them all the history of the region, language, religion, traditions, people, and culture...Peacekeeping in Iraq would go a hell of a lot better...

Sorry if that doesn't make any sense. I'm kind of in a haze. I just ate KFC and they used some weird gravy...

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We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must conquer or perish. It is vain to look for present aid. We must now act or abandon all hope! Rally to the standard, and be no longer the scoff of mercenary tongues! Be men, be free men, that your children may bless their father's name. - Sam Houston

Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee

Now that you elaborated, we agree.

KFC is great, but it takes a good crap and a couple days to feel right again.

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Humans, a renewable resource?
Bumble Bees Die to sting you

My god............... he made sense

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"If you're going through hell, keep going". Winston Churchill

Haha yeah. Have you tried their new biscuit bowl? It's freakin great.

Hmm Spike, maybe that gravy unclogged my mind a bit?

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We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must conquer or perish. It is vain to look for present aid. We must now act or abandon all hope! Rally to the standard, and be no longer the scoff of mercenary tongues! Be men, be free men, that your children may bless their father's name. - Sam Houston

Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee

Well done Z... fully agree on Iraq, and the need to input Regional Cultural Awareness as part of basic and/or pre deployment training...

... also agree on the KFC... lol......

__________________
"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

lol... coming from the Bacardi King, thats truely halarious...

__________________
"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"