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Lt. Gen: "we have absolutely piecemealed our force to death,"

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Posted by -Chuck
Sunday, 05 November 2006
Possible Iraq Deployments Would Stretch Reserve Force Leaders Express Concern Over Troop Rotation Plans By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post The Army's National Guard and Reserve are bracing for possible new and accelerated call-ups, spurred by high demand for U.S. troops in Iraq, that leaders caution could undermine the citizen-soldier force as it struggles to rebuild. Two Army National Guard combat brigades with about 7,000 troops have been identified recently in classified rotational plans for possible special deployment to Iraq, according to senior Army and Pentagon officials, who asked that the specific units not be named. One brigade could be diverted to Iraq next year from another assignment, and the other could be sent there in 2008, a year ahead of schedule. Next year, the number of Army Guard soldiers providing security in Iraq will surge to more than 6,000 in about 50 companies, compared with 20 companies two years ago, Guard officials said. "We thought we'd see a downturn in operational tempo, but that hasn't happened," said one official. "What we're working out of right now is a situation where we have absolutely piecemealed our force to death," said Lt. Gen. Clyde A. Vaughn, chief of the 346,000-strong Army National Guard, in an interview last week. "If we continue to piecemeal these things like Swiss cheese, we will not find ourselves able to build complete forces back." :::Continue Reading:::

Hussein sentenced to death

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Posted by -Chuck
Sunday, 05 November 2006
Blogged here BAGHDAD, Iraq - A combative Saddam Hussein was sentenced Sunday to death by hanging for his role in a brutal crackdown nearly 25 years ago in Dujail -- the once obscure Iraqi town that is now a symbol of his regime's cruelty. Also sentenced to death were Barzan Hassan, Saddam Hussein's half-brother and former head of the intelligence agency, and Awad Bandar, the former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court. Taha Yassin Ramadan, the former vice president of Iraq, was sentenced to life in prison. "This is very clear, and I tell the people today that the verdict was predetermined and has nothing to do with court proceedings," Ramadan said. Mohammed Azzawi Ali, a former Dujail Baath Party official, was acquitted because of insufficient evidence against him, the court said. The three others -- Abdullah Kadhem Ruwaid, Ali Dayem Ali and Misher Abdullah Ruwaid -- were sentenced to 15 years. The 50-minute session was dramatic. Hussein entered with a Quran in hand, as he had in the past. Hussein argued with the chief judge, shouting, "You are the servants of the occupiers." He began yelling Allahu Akhbar -- God is great -- as the verdict and sentencing was read. "Don't push me, boy," he said after the judge ordered him taken away. Bandar also screamed Allahu Akhbar as he was being taken out of court. The verdicts come nearly three years after U.S.-led forces plucked Hussein out of hiding and just a few days before U.S. midterm elections, with the Iraqi war at center stage. The defendants filed into the courtroom one by one to receive their sentences from a five-judge panel. Defense attorney Ramsey Clark was also in court, but he was soon ousted by judges. The court asked Clark to leave, saying he had come here from America to mock the Iraqi people and this court. :::Continue Reading:::