Bush caved to pressure on troops

The phony concept, invented during the days of Robert Strange McNamara and the LBJ administration, that it was desirable to fight a war “on the cheap”, without building and maintaining a force adequate to dominate the battlefield decisively, seems to be taking a major body blow – and high time it is too!

Not only did he get the gospel of military adequacy preached to him from the usual suspect “retired generals”, but the current J.C.S (Joint Chiefs of Staff) sang the same tune when he met with them. After repeated assertions to the press that all forces requested by the Generals on the ground would be provided – Bush has virtually painted himself into a corner on this one. Better late than never!

President Bush only acceded to a jump in the number of U.S. Army and Marine Corps ground troops after intense pressure from senior officers, active and retired, including the Joint Chiefs, defense sources said.

Mr. Bush, who announced Wednesday that he will increase an active force that now stands at 1.4 million personnel, this month heard about the stressed Army and Marines Corps from a group of retired officers at the Pentagon. But the deal-clincher came when he traveled to the Pentagon and met with the six-member Joint Chiefs inside the super-secret “tank.”

There, the commander in chief listened to a request for more combat forces from Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, and Gen. James T. Conway, the Marine commandant, said defense sources briefed on the meeting.