Bush says larger Army!

I don't understand why all these people fighting us around the world can't see that all we want is to help them and give them what we have...freedom. Now we have to send more troops to make them see that they want what we have. :angry:

 

Yes, well, as the Onion said a few years back, we're going to give the Iraqis freedom even if it kills them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(huskers @ Dec 20 2006, 04:09 PM) [snapback]364788[/snapback]</div>

Don't worry; we'll beat it into them!

 

I think if Bush could explain what "winning" would look like, folks might support this war.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Dec 20 2006, 05:39 PM) [snapback]364801[/snapback]</div>

As Bush said today, "We're not winning, we're not losing." If he could explain that, folks might support this war.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Dec 20 2006, 04:45 PM) [snapback]364803[/snapback]</div>

Wth? I just can't watch his speeches anymore. Please just bring our troops home now. So much squandered, for what?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Dec 20 2006, 01:12 PM) [snapback]364792[/snapback]</div>

"We had to destroy the village in order to save it."

-- Actual quote from some military person when questioned about the massacre of a Vietnamese village.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Dec 20 2006, 05:48 PM) [snapback]364805[/snapback]</div>

Well, the war hasn't been bad for everyone. Halliburton CEO David Lesar took home $26.6 million last year. And their company's done nicely. Why would they want to stop:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Dec 20 2006, 04:59 PM) [snapback]364810[/snapback]</div>

add a few other graphs:

dow jones index
US GDP
etc

how about goldman sachs ceo and the other bankers

sick

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Dec 20 2006, 06:09 PM) [snapback]364814[/snapback]</div>

Yep. It is. There has been very little oversight of war profiteering in this conflict.

In the 1940's, Harry Truman investigated the scandal of military wastefulness by exposing fraud and mismanagement. Although some feared his Committee would hurt war morale, it was considered a success and is reported to have saved at least $11 billion. That's 1940s dollars.

"I have had considerable experience in letting public contracts," Truman said, "and I have never yet found a contractor who, if not watched, would not leave the Government holding the bag."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(stanlwyjohn @ Dec 20 2006, 03:51 PM) [snapback]364774[/snapback]</div>

As the father of an 11-year-old boy, I have been keeping an eye on the issue of military recruitment, and this does not even begin to state the story of what's going to happen next. As I understand these issues, the Reserves and National Guard provide a large pool of low-cost military manpower, to be drawn on in case of an actual crisis. You maintain those forces as a least-cost approach to military readiness. Its far cheaper to have Reserves and Guard than Regular Arm. But you only get to draw on them once per generation, because once you do, recruitment and retention fall off drastically. As has now happened. So, basically, Mr. Bush has trashed the Reserves and National Guard as pools of military manpower, for use in true crises, for at least the next generation. He has spent that accumulated goodwill. That means that if we want to keep our standing military force at current strength, it's going to require a very large increase in regular Army and Marines, to offset the reduced availability of Reserves and Guard. This is not only going to be incredibly expensive in any way you want to count it, it might not be feasible without a draft. Which gets me back to my 11 year old. But, as with so many of our current policies, Mr. Bush will be out of office before payment comes due. I don't think the American people will understand the true depth of the damage Mr. Bush has done for years yet.

I hope I don't sound pro-war discussing this coldly. I'm not, at all. What I'm trying to get across is that people are discussing this as if there was some small dis-equilibrium in our military recruitment, requiring a modest adjustment. To the contrary, the US military right now is like a big block of ice that somebody just tossed in the oven. It's only dripping a little bit now, so everybody can still pretend that we have no large problem. So Mr. Bush is covering his behind by calling for an infinitesimally larger military, and will get to skate on this foulup, and the next guy or gal in office will get to announce a crisis in military readiness and all that will follow from that. At which point, my son will be 13. I really don't like the way this is heading.

 

two words
increased military?
bush daughters

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ Dec 20 2006, 06:27 PM) [snapback]364840[/snapback]</div>

Can't we just draft republicans first, then the children of republicans? They elected this idiot even after he gave a demonstration of his incompetence his first term. So let the idiots who elected him do the bidding of the master idiot.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Dec 20 2006, 01:45 PM) [snapback]364803[/snapback]</div>

I wonder. The people whose mind-set is that we are a bastion of "good" besieged by "evil" will probably always support any war the president proposes. A small percentage will always oppose any war, recognizing that the more people we kill, the more enemies we will have. And the majority will believe all the lies at first, but will eventually tire of the bloodshed and will oppose the war once they realize it's unwinable. The number for whom the president's rhetoric or "explanations" matter a whole lot is probably small.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ Dec 20 2006, 03:05 PM) [snapback]364833[/snapback]</div>

There's also the tragedy of a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina coming along when the National Guard and its equipment are overseas. The National Grard is the principal responder in times of domestic natural disaster. By sending them off to an illegal war against the wrong country, Bush probably condemned to death many hundreds of people who might have been saved.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(huskers @ Dec 20 2006, 04:09 PM) [snapback]364788[/snapback]</div>

I don't want to start a real controversy here, but to think that our version of Democracy is easily adaptable in any other country with different traditions is a true mistake. It's like trying to put in the wrong engine in the wrong car, the parts don't all connect!

It is a fact that their traditions, going back 1000's of years, are quite different then our own- to think that our version of Democracy will fit just right in Iraq is a tragic mistake.

Democracy must prevail, I agree - but take everything into perspective (their history, traditions, and political experience)- there is more here than meets the eye!

I truly hope that our mission in Iraq proves to be a success

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Dec 20 2006, 06:51 PM) [snapback]364845[/snapback]</div>

Absolutely. This is not what people join the Guard for, not what the Guard traditionally has been used for, and strips us of capacity we may (and clearly did) need here.

I think the best-kept secret in this whole mess is that the troops in Iraq overwhelmingly favor getting the out of Iraq. Particularly the National Guard. In Jan 2006, when Zogby poll asked our soldiers in Iraq, nearly 90% of the Guard and Reserves, and even a majority of Marines said, get us out of Iraq. I mean, when even the Marines want to get out, that's a pretty clear signal. This seems to have slipped from public awareness, so here's a URL with a summary of results. The pollsters are legit, so there are links to the actual survey questions. You can see for yourself that it's a straight-up survey.

http://www.zogby.com/search/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1075

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ Dec 20 2006, 06:53 PM) [snapback]364899[/snapback]</div>

I wonder if the neo-cons are now going to start accusing the Marines of being a bunch of liberal pansies???

 

Our system is not even working for us in the long term. What gives us the right to force our system on them? Then again, who knows, maybe they will like fascism?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Dec 20 2006, 04:48 PM) [snapback]364805[/snapback]</div>

I can't listen to him either.

Did anyone hear him say "I'm sorry" or "I made a mistake?"