12,000 more National Guard troops being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan

The escalation keeps escalating. MSNBC is reporting that 12,000 more National Guard troops will be sent to the war zones:

Coming on the heels of a controversial “surge” of 21,000 U.S. troops that has stretched the Army thin, the Defense Department is preparing to send an additional 12,000 National Guard combat forces to Iraq and Afghanistan, defense officials told NBC News on Thursday.

The troops will come from four Guard combat brigades in different states, the officials told NBC News’ chief Pentagon correspondent, Jim Miklaszewski. They said papers ordering the deployment, which would run for one year beginning in early 2008, were awaiting Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ signature.

Seems every few weeks since Bush announced the escalation, we get a report of even more soldiers being sent to Iraq. In early February, the Congressional Budget Office estimated there would actually be 35,000 to 48,000 troops involved in Bush's escalation in Iraq. Does anyone even know the real numbers? We'll never get the truth from the White House. Speaking of which, guess what? The Pentagon lied to us, Bush lied to us, about how long the "surge" was going to last. It's not a surge, it's becoming a permanent occupation:

Gates indicated Thursday that defense planners expected the U.S. military commitment to last well beyond the timetable of early next year that was put forth in the Pentagon’s arguments to send more than 20,000 regular Army troops to help quiet sectarian violence.

Oh, and, there's this line from MSNBC, too:

The grinding pace of the war is clearly wearing down the Army.

That's comforting, huh?

Think Progress has video of Olbermann's take.