Gates: I'll Move Troops Out Of Harms Way

[babsbunny]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20070211-07212200-bc-iraq-gates.xml

Gates: I'll move troops out of harm's way
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress that he will move U.S. troops "out of harm's way" if the surge of new soldiers in Iraq is unsuccessful.

"I would be irresponsible if I weren't thinking about what the alternatives might be," Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Times of London reported. The Pentagon is developing a change of strategy should one be required, he said.

"We are hoping it (the surge) will succeed, planning for it to succeed, allocating the resources for it to succeed," he said, the Times reported.

[Tellurian]

1. So, a massive amount of troops have to die to make a point?

and why will the contingency plan work?

[Tellurian]

2. As of this past Friday...It's not working!

Iraq 'surge' has little impact so far

BAGHDAD, Iran, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- The controversial "surge" of U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad is getting off to a slow start, the Los Angeles Times reports.

About 5,000 troops have arrived in the city since President George W. Bush announced the plan in January. But few of the 6 million residents of Baghdad appear to feel more secure.

"The situation is the same or worse," Hameed Abdullah, a resident of southern Baghdad, told the Times.

Abdullah said most of the stores in his neighborhood remain shuttered and cars are not searched at checkpoints.
Five new brigades of U.S. troops are supposed to be deployed to Baghdad, with one arriving each month through May. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he will look at ways to speed up the deployment, but a senior Pentagon official said that is not possible.

Violence in Iraq has ratcheted up since Bush's speech on his change in strategy. More than 1,000 Iraqis and 33 U.S. soldiers and Marines have died in the past week.