"Surge" May Already be Happening

There has been a lot of talk lately about a possible surge in the number of troops deployed to Iraq. U.S. commanders have alternated their support for this option, while several congressmen have made their opposition or support of a surge their primary message regarding the conflict in Iraq. Much in the same way that earlier debate was framed around withdrawing or "staying the course", the Iraq policy debate seems to have centered over the question "to surge or not to surge." As Anthony Cordesman of CSIS points out, "to surge or not to surge, is not the question." Adding troops is not a strategy. There is so much more to what is going on in Iraq; a military solution is no longer feasible, assuming it ever has been. Instead the U.S. ought to concentrate more on the economic dimension of the conflict. I have already mentioned this several times, so I won't go into too much detail.

Anyhow it seems that despite Bush's refusal to publicly announce his new strategy for Iraq, he seems to have already answered The Question, irrelevant as it may be. Yesterday the Washington Post reported that a brigade of U.S. Army troops will deploy to Kuwait early next month. You can draw your own conclusion, but to me it looks like the Bush administration is preparing for "the surge."