Deployment Math Tests the Military

[bemildred]

WASHINGTON — As prospects fade for U.S. force reductions in Iraq, Army and Marine commanders have been stepping up their warnings that the pace of troop deployments is increasingly straining the military and threatening to cause long-term damage.

According to Pentagon officials, senior officers in the Army and Marine Corps in recent weeks have begun warning that without a reduction in Iraq, the present schedule of combat tours would be difficult to sustain without an increase in the number of forces.

Army officials had been counting on a gradual drawdown in Iraq starting later this year and accelerating over the following 12 months.

But the rising violence in Baghdad forced the Pentagon to shelve those plans at the end of July, and Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, acknowledged publicly Tuesday that force levels would remain around the current 145,000 through spring.

LA Times

[pinerow]

1. I feel a draft coming on...

nt

[ThomCat]

2. I feel very sorry for all the people who

volunteered, but now find themselves Enslaved to the Military for the duration.
x(

[K8-EEE]

16. Enslaved Is Right -- BushCo Wants INDEFINITE War

Which is why we have "enduring" bases etc...

[lebkuchen]

4. There should be a draft

America wanted this war. Now it's time to ante up.

[pinerow]

6. Correction...The Administration wanted the war...

and lied to get the American peoples support...there is a difference.

[saigon68]

17. And a number of US here told them it would be a Cluster-Fuck

Too bad this site was erased in July 2003, losing all the old Posts


If I had the nasty posts attacking me as Un-American and the rest of the Hillary DLC drivel

I could tell those MOTHER--FUCKERS, who called me names to go FUCK THEMSELVES

[lebkuchen]

27. What you told them back in 2003

makes you smarter than Bush's god, btw.

[saigon68]

28. I don't know about that

It seemed obvious at the time.

It was and is IRAQ-NAM II

[lebkuchen]

19. I didn't see any lack of support for the war when I was last in the US

two months ago. Quite the opposite. I didn't see a single protest, not even a protest sign, except for the one entering Big Sur on HWY 1. I traveled north, south, east, and west. Not a whimper of protest, not even now, as Bush pushes for the legalization of torture and a personal reprieve from the torture he's already committed.

If Bush were a leader in Europe or most of Asia, he would have been driven out a long time ago.

Americans support our active duty being recycled, used and abused, for no good reason. It's time for the bulk of those who voted for this never ending war to contribute heart and soul to the cause they have supported with hot air and a ballot since its inception.

[Vincardog]

14. aWoL lie us into this illegal occupation of Iraq/ Doesn't he have some of

TANG duty to finnish? LEt him and his fill the recruiting gap. No Democrat should support a draft to further the reich's illegal imperial ameriKKKa plans.

[CTD]

18. A draft would get our troops home faster than anything else.

As long as the children of the poor and powerless are dying, there is no urgency. But start sending the sons and daughters of the powerful to die for this administration's lies and we'll see them bending over backwards to justify "cutting and running".

[lebkuchen]

21. My RW extended family/acquaintances support Bush to the max

They are doctors, bank presidents, teachers, FBI agents, nurses, farmers, tire busters, Bible whackers, and they ALL have kids of draftable age. They ALL say the troops signed on the dotted line, so screw 'em.

I want a draft.

[intaglio]

26. and how many of them will have their kids will be drafted? eom

[rockyandmax]

7. or maybe we just change the maimum

age for the entry into the military to something like 65 or so.


Social Security isn't as good as it use to be...

[BlueJackal]

13. I say let them send their own kids and nephews/nieces/grandkids into war..

first and then after that ask us to sign up.

[lebkuchen]

23. Senator Voinovich (R-OH) has 3 children and 7 grandchildren

Voinovich was saber-rattling the President of Iran this week, calling him names, saying that the US would never have a solution to Iraq until it dealt with Iran. Deal with Iran, how?

A US military strike, but of course. With what army?

Naturally, Voinovich has no military experience whatsoever. I say now's as good a time as ever to draft his offspring.

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newmemberbio.cgi?lang=&member=OHJR&site=ctc

[BlueJackal]

32. Good point - draft those who can actually AFFORD college.....

and let those who can't actually go and further their academic and economic well-beings. These fuckers in congress and in the administration are always calling for war and yet they expect other people to just drop what they're doing and alter their lives for their sick war mongering. This country gets scarier and scarier by the week.

[denverbill]

3. Notice how they never announced an increase from 130,000 to 145,000?

They just 'delayed rotations' and suddenly, the new baseline number is 145,000.

[JPZenger]

5. AP: 20,000 Increase in Troops Since June

An AP article a couple days ago said there was a 20,000 increase in the number of US service persons in Iraq since June. Some of the increase came from transferring a brigade that was in reserve in Kuwait, but the rest were never announced.

Apparently, more and more troops are going to get their coming home date delayed again. That will be great before the election.

[babylonsister]

8. But is dimson listening, as he claims? Rec'd. nt

[rodeodance]

9. all hell will break lose after the election --just my gut feeling.

[rodeodance]

10. "Coaxing the unwilling" about recruitment.

a friend sent me. sorry but i do not have a link


FIGHTING FORCES in Asia Times

Coaxing the unwilling

By Nick Turse, Sept 16, 2006

US military recruiting in 2006 has been marked by upbeat pronouncements from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claims of success by the White House, propaganda releases by the Pentagon, and a spate of recent press reports touting the way the military has made its wo/manpower goals.

But the US armed forces have only met with success through a fundamental "transformation", and not the transformation of the military - that "co-evolution of concepts, processes, organizations and technology" - Rumsfeld is always talking about, either.

While the secretary of defense's long-standing goal of transforming the planet's most powerful military into its highest-tech, most agile, most futuristic fighting force has, in the words of the Washington Post's David Von Drehle, "melted away", the very makeup of the armed forces has been mutating before our collective eyes under the pressure of the war in Iraq. This actual transformation has been reported, but only in scattered articles on the new recruitment landscape in the United States.

Last year, despite NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), professional bull-riding and Arena Football sponsorships; popular video games that doubled as recruiting tools; television commercials dripping with seductive scenes of military glory; a "joint marketing communications and market research and studies" program actively engaged in measures to target for military service Hispanics, dropouts and those with criminal records; and at least US$16,000 in promotional costs for each soldier it managed to sign up, the US military failed to meet its recruiting goals.

This year, those methods have been pumped up and taken over the top in 12 critical areas of recruitment that make the old army ad-line "Be all that you can be" into material for late-night TV punch lines of the future.

[babylonsister]

11. Here's the link to that article:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HI16Aa03.html

[BlueJackal]

12. Let them bring the draft back

I'll show up with my draft card at the nearest jail to turn myself in for refusal to serve. I refuse to serve in Iraq, Iran or in any other unconstitutional, illegal neoconservative war.

John Kerry warned in the debates about a "back-door draft" and here we go -- talk of it has already begun. That fucking country is like a rag soaked in gasoline surrounded by candles. It's just a matter of time because that son of a bitch catches fire and blows up. And when that happens, it's time to remove Dubya. I think a draft will turn enough voters away from the Rethuglikkkans and into the anti-war movement that we'll see recall elections and Bush and Cheney impeached and inprisoned along with that snivelling little Likudnik William Kristol. Then after that who knows -- maybe some good old-fashioned treason trials will be conducted along with some old-fashioned hangings......

[fredtheman]

20. You'll certainly be

The belle of the ball!!

[Renew Deal]

15. Sustaining current levels would require a draft.

Just imagine what it would take to get the job done.

[MiniMe]

22. Hmmm, a Rove ploy? Have the dems impose a draft so they get the blame?

This could be a set-up here.

[lebkuchen]

25. The military family is close to revolt right now

The dems could choose to do nothing and let our active duty suffer even more than it already has, but then they'd be mimicking Bush, who is essentially holding our troops hostage for his own benefit.

[VegasWolf]

24. Not surprising, Bush was never any good at math or science. nt

[dkofos]

29. They wouldn't have this problem if they would

JUST GET THE FUCK OUT OF IRAQ

[pwb]

30. Iraq is no war

there is no enemy to fight back against. our troops are getting blown away and can not fight back.

[TexasLawyer]

31. Destroying the Reserves and the National Guard

Who in their right mind would join up when it just means you'll be sent repeadedly to Iraq as cannon fodder?

<snip>

One senior Pentagon official involved in long-term planning said the concerns had reached such a level that top Army leaders broached the issue of changing deployment rules to allow for more frequent call-ups of National Guard and Reserve units to relieve pressure on the active duty Army.

Because the Army relied heavily on the Guard and Reserve early in the war, many units have hit legal deployment limits, which allow for two years overseas out of every five. But without a change in those rules to allow more frequent Guard deployments, the Army would be forced to consider a push for an expansion of its active duty force, which stands at 504,000, the official said.

<snip>

[Stella_Artois]

33. Bigger army - good

Thats how they see it. They are career officers, bigger army = more career opportunites.