Quel “renforcement”?

Les chiffres et les précisions diverses du “renforcement” annoncé par GW confirment une affirmation de Jim Miklaszewski, de NBC.News, reprise par le site Think Progress du 3 janvier : «an administration official “admitted to us today that this surge option is more of a political decision than a military one.”»

Les précisions rapportées par AP ce 10 janvier montrent que le “renforcement” revient à des arrangements divers prolongeant certains déploiements ou en accélérant certains autres déjà prévus. Le total qu’on atteindra lorsque le “renforcement” sera achevé (153.500 hommes) sera à peu près équivalent à l’effectif déployé il y a deux mois (152.000 hommes) et inférieur à ce qu’il était il y a un an (160.000 hommes).

Extrait de la dépèche AP :

«According to the military official, who provided no dates,

»• The 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division, National Guard Unit based in Minnesota, will stay longer than planned in Iraq;

»• The 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, based at Fort Riley, Kansas, will deploy to Iraq earlier than planned;

»• The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., will deploy early;

»• The 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga., will deploy early;

»• And the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Benning, Ga., will deploy early.

»President Bush planned to visit Fort Benning Thursday morning as part of an effort to promote his revamped Iraq strategy. Brigades typically have about 3,500 troops.

»The Pentagon made no official announcement about its troop-boost plan.

»In addition, the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne, which had not been scheduled to go to Iraq this year, is expected to move into Iraq by mid-January. The brigade's home base is Fort Bragg, N.C.

»White House officials said an extra 17,500 Army soldiers would be sent to Baghdad and the Marines would have an extra 4,000 troops in western Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency. Some will be placed inside Iraqi army units to accelerate their training. Others will support Iraqi army units that will be expected to do the bulk of the street patrols and other missions to quell Baghdad's sectarian violence.

»The increase is to be achieved over a period of months. At its height, the troop total — now at about 132,000 — apparently would reach about 153,500, although the Pentagon did not release a timeline for the increases.

»That is not appreciably higher than just two months ago when it stood at 152,000. And it is a little less than the 160,000 level of one year ago, in the immediate aftermath of Iraqi elections.

Mis en ligne le 11 janvier 2007 à 17H52