Today's Washington Post is the latest news outlet to report disagreement between the Pentagon and the White House. The paper says the White House wants 15,000 to 30,000 more troops for a last-ditch "surge" to rescue Iraq from total chaos. It says the Joint Chiefs of Staff are unanimously opposed, despite Army leaders warning that their active forces are already at the breaking point All this as the new Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, plans a trip to Iraq and President Bush says he'll announce a new strategy early next year. We debate military realities in the short term and the foreseeable future.
To 'Surge' or Not to 'Surge' in Iraq
Credits
Guests:
- Fred Kagan - Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
- Winslow Wheeler - Center for Defense Information
- Laith Kubba - Spokesman, former Iraqi Prime Minister al-Jaafari
- Kevin Ryan - Senior Fellow, Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
- John Mercurio - The Hotline