Strapped for money, Army extends cutbacks

[bemildred]

WASHINGTON - The Army, bearing most of the cost for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Thursday its money crunch has gotten so bad it is clamping down on spending for travel, civilian hiring and other expenses not essential to the war mission.

A statement outlining the cutbacks did not say how much money the Army expects to save, but senior officials have said the cost of replacing worn equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan is rising at a quickening pace.

Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, said last week that in 2004 it cost $4 billion to repair or replace war equipment, but now it has reached $12 billion to $13 billion. "And in my view, we will continue to see this escalate," he said, adding that the Army is using up equipment at four times the rate for which it was designed.

Schoomaker traced the problem's origin to entering the Iraq war in 2003 with a $56 billion shortfall in equipment. The Army managed the situation by rotating in fresh units while keeping the same equipment in Iraq. Over time, he said, the equipment has worn out without sufficient investment in replacements.

Contra Costa Times

[jimshoes]

1. Wow,

the goverment has maxed out their credit card paying for a 51st state in Iraq that has failure written all over it. Way to go guys.

[Rex]

2. Disgraceful, our fed gummit should be held accountable for this.

This erodes our national security. Fucking criminal Bush and Cheney. Why do they hate the military so?

[Trillo]

3. "Mission Accomplished"

Curious to contrast this against rising CEO pay. For poor folk who join the military because it's 'their best' financial option, Bush says, "Work harder with less money and not enough equipment", but for CEOs Bush says, "Lower taxes!" "Lower capital gains", privatize! privatize! so CEOs can be the new ruling class.

Bush might as well say, 'Our priorities are "privatization." So sorry Private!'

Don't forget, that according to AG Gonzalez, the White House operates under the legal assumption of "no war", because Congress never declared War, yet, they seem to claim sweeping war powers in the so-called "war against terrorism".

"Mission Accomplished", or so claimed Bush's aircraft carrier photo-op.

[leftofthedial]

4. trillions looted from the treasury

and the army is broke?

[rodeodance]

5. 100,000 of the approximately 127,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are Army.

.....The Army chief said there is too little money available to keep up with equipment repairs. He said the Army's five major repair depots are operating at only 50 percent of capacity, resulting in a backlog of 1,000 Humvee utility vehicles awaiting attention at the Red River Army Depot in Texas and 500 tanks at a depot in Alabama.

The Army's 2006 budget is $99.2 billion, and the 2007 budget request not yet approved by Congress seeks $111 billion for the Army.

About 100,000 of the approximately 127,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are Army. Most of the rest are Marines.

[Solly Mack]

6. Thank you, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld

[BrotherBuzz]

7. Bake sales, I smell bake sales on the horizon

It'll be a great day when education gets all the money it wants and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy bombers. ~Author unknown

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Is the Air Force hurting for money? I doubt it. After all, that goes ...

straight to the contractors, for all those fancy planes and missles. No, that money will keep flowing quite freely. It's the boots-on-the-ground guys who are getting shafted -- what money they get is diverted to Halliburton anyway.

[BrotherBuzz]

11. I gather you didn't experience the sixties

or you might have understood what I was lampooning. :shrug:

[eppur_se_muova]

14. I've seen the bumper sticker/T-shirt, thanks. Just wasn't in a joking mood

I was pointing out that it seems to be the grunts on the ground who are suffering for lack of money -- the warmongers at the top of the pyramid are not hurting. Bu**sh**'s budget cuts always have this really strange selectivity like that. The blatant inequity of it rankles more than a little bit.

[BrotherBuzz]

15. This dumb draftee ground pounder....

could tell you stories of young army families overseas going to desperate measures just to get by that would make everyone cringe. I've seen it first hand.

[eppur_se_muova]

16. Some of them are making their way into the public consciousness, but it's

an uphill battle. Bu**sh**co doesn't want such items appearing in the Money$treamMedia, but they keep showing up in the blogs.

I really think we could end up with a recurrence of the 'Bonus Army' phenomenon of the 'Thirties -- this time with vets demanding nothing more than their just due for their service to their country. The crap with cutting benefits is just so petty it's hard to understand what possible motivation, other than pure meanness, is behind it. The budget "savings" are trivial compared to what Halliburton sucks up in a single day.

[brentspeak]

8. So tell us, Bush: Where did all the billions go?

Is there anything left over after letting your cronies feed on the nation's treasury?

[saigon68]

20. This money went into the pockets of the BIG HALLIBURTON STOCKHOLDERS

And BIG RETIREES---- LIKE DICK-LESS CHENEY

[Mnemosyne]

9. K and R n/t

[goforit]

12. And all for what?

[mom cat]

13. Boo hoo! So why not can WMD expansion?

[krkaufman]

17. Yet another hidden cost of the Iraq war.

I'm sure that the untold billions to resupply the military with new equipment hasn't been accounted for in any of the budgets presented thus far.

[MissB]

18. Sounding more like ole' USSR everyday.

[bemildred]

19. Yes.

:thumbsup:

[rocktivity]

21. Meanwhile, contractors are raking it in

not including the multimillon-dollars performance bonuses...

:grr:
rocknation

[uppityperson]

22. more stop loss also,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2416071
US may increase Iraq force by delaying departures

The U.S. military, faced with unrelenting violence in Baghdad, is expected to delay the departure of about 4,000 troops due to leave Iraq in the coming days in order to boost the size of the U.S. force, officials said on Wednesday.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-07-26T222108Z_01_N26228643_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-TROOPS.xml