Media notices ‘gator’s long tail

When the President announced he was sending 22,000 troops to Afghanistan last Spring, I guess the media didn’t realize that it would entail sending support troops behind the trigger-pullers judging by the headlines this morning. The Washington Post‘s Ann Scott Tyson incredulously writes “Support Troops Swelling U.S. Force in Afghanistan; Additional Deployments Not Announced and Rarely Noted”

President Obama announced in March that he would be sending 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. But in an unannounced move, the White House has also authorized — and the Pentagon is deploying — at least 13,000 troops beyond that number, according to defense officials.

The additional troops are primarily support forces, including engineers, medical personnel, intelligence experts and military police. Their deployment has received little mention by officials at the Pentagon and the White House, who have spoken more publicly about the combat troops who have been sent to Afghanistan.

Who would have thought an increased number of combat forces would need more support? Certainly not the Washington Post, or even Fox News, for that matter;

“Obama authorized the whole thing. The only thing you saw announced in a press release was the 21,000,” an unnamed defense official familiar with the process told the paper.

The report comes as Obama weighs a request from the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, for more combat, training and support troops, with several options including one for 40,000 more forces.

The number we used to talk about was 7 support troops for every infantryman. It’s probably more than that now given the amount of technology the troops carry around with them these days. Somehow the media, which claims to be the expert on everything on this planet, is just noticing that the pointy end of the alligator has a long tail to propel those teeth.

Defense officials, however, acknowledge that the request for 21,000 troops has led to the authorization of more forces.

“The 21,000 are only combat forces, and when the combat forces go in, there are a certain amount of additional forces that are required,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who signs the deployment orders, had military officials identify last spring the entire scope of the increase and agreed that he would consult with Obama again if the Pentagon sought to go above that, Whitman said.

I suppose the media envisioned 21,000 trigger-pullers carrying everything they need for a year’s deployment on their backs.

Category: Media, Terror War