Pentagon paints grim picture of Taiwan air defense

F-16s

The US is gonna sell themselves some aircraft, yo. No doubt about it. Because it's a God given right for them to do their best to make sure all countries are equally armed to the fucking teeth. Unless we don't like them.

So China, boil up your indignation and begin to prepare your complaint. Don't say you weren't warned.

The Pentagon has painted a grim picture of Taiwan's air defense capabilities, raising serious doubts about the island's ability to withstand an attack from rival China.

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Bush seeks 8,200 more troops for wars

What's truly sad about this is Bush and probably the Dems view this as a cost thing. It is a cost thing, but it isn't about the money, its about the lives of our military people.

And as Bush continues to float in his own little bubble he seems unaware he is asking for resources the military just doesn't have.

President Bush asked Congress on Saturday for $3.2 billion to pay for 8,200 more U.S. troops needed in Afghanistan and Iraq on top of the 21,500-troop buildup he announced in January.

Bush wants Congress to fund 3,500 new U.S. troops to expand training of local police and army units in Afghanistan. The money also would pay for the estimated 3,500 existing U.S. troops he already announced would be staying longer in the region to counter an anticipated Taliban offensive in Afghanistan this spring.

In Iraq, most of the additional troops would help with the latest Baghdad security plan, which is getting under way in the capital. The money would pay for 2,400 combat support troops, 2,200 military police forces and 129 troops for reconstruction teams.

The budget revisions come as many lawmakers opposed to the buildup in Iraq are debating funding for the war. But in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Bush proposed canceling $3.2 billion in low-priority defense items to offset the extra money needed to support the additional troops.

And this at the same time the Pentagon Struggles to Find Fresh Troops

Military leaders are struggling to choose Army units to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan longer or go there earlier than planned, but five years of war have made fresh troops harder to find.

Faced with a military buildup in Iraq that could drag into next year, Pentagon officials are trying to identify enough units to keep up to 20 brigade combat teams in Iraq. A brigade usually has about 3,500 troops.

The likely result will be extending the deployments of brigades scheduled to come home at the end of the summer, and sending others earlier than scheduled.

Final decisions _ which have not yet been made _ would come as Congress is considering ways to force President Bush to wind down the war, despite his vow that he would veto such legislation.

In the freshest indication of the relentless demands for troops in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of coalition forces in the north, told reporters Friday that his troops have picked up the pace of their attacks on the enemy in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

"Could I use more forces? No question about it," Mixon said, adding that he had asked for more.

(pic via Shakespeare's Sister)

US 'plans to bomb Iran', despite denials

If you think Iran isn't in Bush's and Cheney's sights you are too naïve.

A Pentagon unit is planning for a bombing attack on Iran which could be carried out "within 24 hours", according to a report in the United States, issued just as the Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad warned that Tehran's nuclear programme had "no reverse gear".

The generally authoritative New Yorker journalist, Seymour Hersh, reported in the latest edition of the weekly magazine that a "special planning group" had been set up in recent months under the joint chiefs of staff. Quoting a former intelligence official, Hersh said the unit was "charged with creating a contingency bombing plan for Iran that can be implemented, upon orders from the [US] President, within 24 hours".

The report appears to contradict the Bush administration's denials that it is planning for war on Iran, despite a US military build-up in the Gulf.

Bryan Whitman, the Pentagon's spokesman, said: "The US is not planning to go to war with Iran. To suggest anything to the contrary is simply wrong, misleading and mischievous."

But the American leader most identified with possible military action against Iran, Vice-President Dick Cheney, repeated in Australia last week that "all options" were on the table.

Just how many smoking guns do the American people need? Jesus H Christ on a broomstick, World War III or IV is about to happen and people are concerned with Deal or no Deal, Anna Nicloe and American Idol.
May I respond? FUCK.

Sorry for the profanity, but its part of my nature.

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