Neocons say Bush is hiding the actual troop-punt figure

In an interesting post at the Corner, Rich Lowry calls Bush a liar (okay, "low-ball"-er) for saying his punt of five brigades and one regiment to Iraq is only 21,000 troops. Lowry says the true figure to support that level is more like 30,000 troops (or more, he's not clear).

The apparent reason for lying is to conceal how much Bush is escalating the war. Considering that the increase is correctly being accused of being too little to have an effect, that seems a little strange. And the Bush Administration is dumb enough to short-change the number of logistical support troops.

As for Lowry's reliance on a decent military commander, the Bushies are still the bosses, and they will screw things up. And that commander who Lowry trusts says that 120,000 troops are needed in Baghdad. It's not going to work.