Will the US lose the war in Iraq by running out of soldiers?

[MOBIUS]

Six more soldiers dead today, as many US soldiers in Iraq as during the invasion two years ago, minority support for the war, plunging enlistment rates as potential recruits decide they don't want to be maimed or killed for a cause they no longer believe in...

Maybe all the insurgents have to do is hold out until the US runs out of soldiers?

[KrazyHorse]

Deaths and injuries to now are far lower than the turnover rate. Don't be silly.

[Agathon]

They've already lost.

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Agathon
They've already lost.

Yeah, but it'll take a bit of time before the last one has blown himself up.

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Deaths and injuries to now are far lower than the turnover rate. Don't be silly.

What about if the turnover is no longer replenished by recruitment?

Apparently recuiters haven't met their targets for the last four months straight and the situation is getting worse. Granted it will take a while for these effects to percolate through, but will this form of attrition be of a greater danger to the US army as a result of the dead and wounded stacking up in Iraq with total US casualties now having reached five figures?

[MOBIUS]

The army only managed 57% of its recruitment targets in April

Of course it's only a Guardian article, so it's bound to be total bull****...

CNN Story

[Agathon]

Originally posted by BlackCat

Yeah, but it'll take a bit of time before the last one has blown himself up.

Very funny.

The Americans have lost. How long will it take them to admit it this time, so we can start the gloating?

[MOBIUS]

Of course there's always the draft - I'd love to see some of the pro war posters on this forum ****ting their pants on the streets of Iraq, putting their money where their sphincter is...

[lord of the mark]

uh, you guys are aware that the targets were raised cause the army is being INCREASED in size by 30,000? It was in the CNN article you linked to BTW. But i guess if you want to pretend thats attrition, go right ahead.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by MOBIUS
Of course there's always the draft - I'd love to see some of the pro war posters on this forum ****ting their pants on the streets of Iraq, putting their money where their sphincter is...

right after 9/11 i checked the websites for the national guard - I missed the maximum age cutoff. Theyve since modified it a bit, but not enough.

[MOBIUS]

Private LotM reporting for duty.

Apparently not any more...

I'd say anything reducing the intended fighting effectiveness of an enemy could be construed as 'attrition'...

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by MOBIUS
Private LotM reporting for duty.

Apparently not any more...

I'd say anything reducing the intended fighting effectiveness of an enemy could be construed as 'attrition'...

an army thats growing, but not as fast as planned, is suffering from attrition? I suppose, technically, yes. Turn that around and apply it to AQ generally, or to the insurgency in Iraq. What were THEIR recruitment goals? Why thinking along these lines you could show the insurgency suffering from severe attrition, even as THEIR numbers grow. Congratulations man, you could work for Dick Cheney.

[Dinner]

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


an army thats growing, but not as fast as planned, is suffering from attrition? I suppose, technically, yes. Turn that around and apply it to AQ generally, or to the insurgency in Iraq. What were THEIR recruitment goals? Why thinking along these lines you could show the insurgency suffering from severe attrition, even as THEIR numbers grow. Congratulations man, you could work for Dick Cheney.

Without being in AQHQ and knowing their plans, I'd reckon the US invading Iraq has acted as a clarion call to the ranks of AQ far surpassing their wildest dreams.

But the US top Gulf commander General John Abizaid told the same Senate committee more foreign fighters were coming into Iraq than six months ago. BBC

So whereas AQ recruitment appears to have been bolstered by the war in Iraq, US recruitment has been supressed for the very same reason - making you **** out of luck, as usual...

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by MOBIUS




Without being in AQHQ and knowing their plans, I'd reckon the US invading Iraq has acted as a clarion call to the ranks of AQ far surpassing their wildest dreams.


So whereas AQ recruitment appears to have been bolstered by the war in Iraq, US recruitment has been supressed for the very same reason - making you **** out of luck, as usual...

you dont know from that statement if they were recruited BECAUSE of the war, or if they would have been recruited anyway, and were sent to Iraq. Apparently BBC interviewed somebody from Janes who said that the number of Islamic extremists in Europe is being diminished by the number going to Iraq. I dont think they put that on the website, though.

and again, US recruitment missing targets is not the same as recruitment declining. Not when the targets have gone up.