Pentagon does the unacceptable (Bush no longer in control?)

[JollyRoger]

Bush yesterday:

The bottom line is this: Congress's failure to fund our troops will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines. Others could see their loved ones headed back to war sooner than anticipated. This is unacceptable. It's unacceptable to me, it's unacceptable to our veterans, it's unacceptable to our military families, and it's unacceptable to many in this country.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070410-1.html

The Pentagon today:

All active-duty Army troops now in Iraq or Afghanistan or headed to either country will serve 15-month tours of duty, up from the usual 12-month tours, effective immediately, the Pentagon announced today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/middleeast/11cnd-military.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

What a difference a day makes.

 

[Phlegmak]

Bush yesterday:


http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070410-1.html

The Pentagon today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/w...military.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

What a difference a day makes.

15 months? Isn't that detrimental to the effectiveness of the soldiers?

 

[Azash]

So, Bush is basically blaming the Pentagon for the soldiers having to stay longer in Iraq.. Is it just me, or wasn't Bush just fine with that up until this point?

 

[Maimonides]

Uh, no. He's blaming Congress. The Pentagon takes it's orders from the president.

 

[Masquerouge]

But isn't Bush also opposing Congress' plan to withdraw troops earlier?

 

[Azash]

Uh, no. He's blaming Congress. The Pentagon takes it's orders from the president.

I thought that soldiers had been kept in Iraq for overtly extended periods of time before, as well.

 

[JollyRoger]

So, Bush is basically blaming the Pentagon for the soldiers having to stay longer in Iraq.. Is it just me, or wasn't Bush just fine with that up until this point?

No, yesterday he was making a point of saying that his refusal to sign the Democrats funding bill may cause troops to be away of their families longer and such a result would be unacceptable.

Today, the Pentagon, which as Commander-in-Chief, Bush should have some degree of control over, annnounced it is extending tours, something that Bush just said the day before was unacceptable.