AP: U.S. Extends Iraq Tours for 6,500 Troops

Watch them spin that one. It’s going to be interesting to see if Republicans are as desperate to have absentee ballots cast by troops abroad as they were in 2000. Back then they even counted absentee ballots that were postmarked after Nov. 2, while “regular” votes were not treated in the same way.

The Army has extended by two months the Iraq (news - web sites) tours of about 6,500 soldiers, citing a need for experienced troops through the Iraqi elections scheduled for late January.

About 3,500 soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, and 3,000 from the 1st Infantry Division headquarters will remain in Iraq two months longer than planned, Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon (news - web sites) spokesman, said Saturday.
(…)
A description of the troop extensions posted on the Pentagon’s Web site Saturday mentioned “the troops’ frustration” over having their tours extended. It said some of the soldiers previously had been told they would be leaving Iraq as early as November. Instead they will stay through January. link

Something tells me this election may not be as close as is generally assumed. It’s going to be close, but there may still be a decisive winner by Wednesday morning. (Or call this naive thinking of a journalist who wants to get some sleep Tuesday night.)