Letter: What will be the last straw in Iraq?

Sunday, June 3, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

The news Thursday from the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq - Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno - is that the troops that are being deployed to Iraq, as part of the surge, won't be operational for several weeks.

From my standpoint, I think Gen. David Petraeus is probably going to have to ask for an extension of time for his evaluation of what the surge has accomplished. The good general had said that he would have this evaluation by September.

It seems that something very important was left out of the equation. Don't these top generals have the information as to the state of readiness of the troops they are sending to Iraq? Don't they know, with their timetables of troop movements, training and supplying the necessary equipment, how to finally get something right in Iraq?

It's frightening to think that this delaying tactic - whether it might be too soon to determine by September whether the Iraq troop buildup is working - could have been hatched in the White House.

Maybe this latest batch of "oversights" will be the last straw, and Congress will get the necessary votes to override any veto by our president of the next bill for a strict timeline in getting out of Iraq.

Archie Weitman, North Las Vegas