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More Ground Forces (Washington Times Op/Ed)
The Washington Times ^ | 25 June 05

Posted on 06/25/2005 4:13:30 AM PDT by leadpenny

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050624-105725-2869r.htm

It's not every day that John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and hawks at the American Enterprise Institute agree on a matter of public policy. But when it comes to expanding U.S. ground forces, they do. So far, the Bush administration has opposed expansion. Its logic is one of short-term crisis-management and spending priorities: Expansion would be a recruiting burden for the Army, the administration argues, and money is better spent on transformation. Both complications are real; it makes sense in the immediate future to worry about them. But neither is an argument against more ground forces in the long run. To fight the war on terror, the United States will need to add perhaps 150,000 or more combat infantrymen to the Army and Marine Corps in the coming years.

(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: dod
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C-SPAN is using this op/ed as the basis for the call-in question on Washington Journal
1 posted on 06/25/2005 4:13:30 AM PDT by leadpenny
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To: leadpenny

I would question any additional troops if the administration truly believes the insurgency is in it's last throes.


2 posted on 06/25/2005 4:19:44 AM PDT by joesbucks
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To: joesbucks

A pro-Bush woman caller made the point that the op/ed made no mention of more troops for Iraq. I didn't catch it either until she pointed it out.


3 posted on 06/25/2005 4:24:51 AM PDT by leadpenny
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To: joesbucks
I do not know if the terrorist in Iraq is slowing down, but I do know that the way the military operates is best left to the experts. Kerry and Clinton do not qualify!!
4 posted on 06/25/2005 4:32:01 AM PDT by Coldwater Creek ('We voted like we prayed")
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To: leadpenny
To fight the war on terror, the United States will need to add perhaps 150,000 or more combat infantrymen to the Army and Marine Corps in the coming years.

They can't recruit enough to maintain current levels, where are the extra 150,000 going to come from?

5 posted on 06/25/2005 4:36:56 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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To: leadpenny
Actually it's one of those well penned pieces allowing plausable deniability. You're right, there is no specific call increased troops in Itaq in this piece. You believe it was calling for more troops as did I.

A logical conclusion to the piece if you connect the dots is that since it claims the war on terror will need more troops and the war on terror is being fought in Iraq, then it must be in Iraq where troops are needed. But no, it didn't explicitly call for additional troops in Iraq.

I find this happening more and more often. I hear something on Rush, come to a logical conclusion, check the transcript and that is not what he said. I listen to a speech by the President or someone from the administration, come to a conclusion and then check the transcript and my conclusion and the transcript don't match. The wordsmithing is interesting.

6 posted on 06/25/2005 4:37:25 AM PDT by joesbucks
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To: leadpenny

We're in WWIII. Reinstate the military draft. Bush's "war on the cheap" aint gonna make it. He clings to the fiction that an all volunteer military can deal with
the demands of 40-50 million islamofascist sadists each seeking his 72 virgins by killing americans. Too great a burden on a relative hand full of patriots.


7 posted on 06/25/2005 4:39:41 AM PDT by kimosabe31
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To: leadpenny
It's all politics. Queen Hillarius, the 2008 Democratic Presidential nominee, wants to be able to say:

"The Republicans failed miserably in Iraq because of a lack of ground troops. I am on record for trying to increase manpower in Iraq, but the Republicans lacked the insight and the political will to listen to my suggestions...yada yada yada"

8 posted on 06/25/2005 4:42:11 AM PDT by TheCrusader
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To: leadpenny
Obviously there is a minimum amount of ground troops required, but one lesson of Vietnam that I think my be safely applied here is that when fighting irregular forces who can blend into the population there is a level where more troops are counter productive.

Their interference with with local population creates resentment that aids the irregulars and makes the government we are supporting look like patsies. It also sends the local government and its supporters the message that they don't have do the hard, bloody, work themselves because the Americans will do it for them All that without (given the rules of engagement) a corresponding increase in pressure on the irregulars. What is worse the higher troop levels make it easier for the fifth columnists in this country to attack the war and raise pressure to "bring the boys home" before the war is won.

Given a free hand Oliver Comwell or William T. Sherman could win this war with higher troop levels, but that sort pacification campaigns they waged in Ireland and the Confederacy would never be allowed today (I'm not saying that is a bad thing, just stating it).

Our troops are there to keep the lid from coming off until the Iraqi Government wins this war its self. We need enough troops there to kep the lid on and not a battalion more.

9 posted on 06/25/2005 4:44:48 AM PDT by Pilsner
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To: leadpenny

Why do I get so upset when I read about Washington trying to run the business of military professionals??? Could it be that I remember the last war that was run by politicians? Why can't we let the military do what they do best without audacious interference from those who haven't a clue how to win at hopscotch, much less a war???
Perhaps, students of history could enlighten our legislators what happened in Viet Nam.


10 posted on 06/25/2005 4:50:03 AM PDT by jch10
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To: mariabush

Did you not know that when elected to public office that you become an expert on everything?


11 posted on 06/25/2005 4:52:34 AM PDT by Piquaboy (22 year veteran of the Army, Air Force and Navy, Pray for all our military .)
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To: Non-Sequitur

That is the $64 question?

I'm sure the the US Air Force, the US Navy and many DOD Civilians are trying to shore up their force structures against cuts.

The bottom line is, however, that the US Army is not getting enough recruits right now to sustain the current force structure.


12 posted on 06/25/2005 4:56:07 AM PDT by leadpenny
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To: leadpenny

But DUDE!! I just got my 5 pack of signs put up! They cost me $25 BUCKS! What am I supposed to take them DOWN now?

(/sarcasm)

13 posted on 06/25/2005 4:59:15 AM PDT by listenhillary (Socialists have only killed 100 million. We'll never learn will we?)
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To: kimosabe31

"Reinstate the military draft."

We're inching in that direction, I believe.

Those who would do America harm on our soil have not attacked on a 9-11 scale for just that reason. They know we are divided and they don't want to wake the sleeping giant. What is going on in Iraq on a daily basis does not (un)divide us.


14 posted on 06/25/2005 5:01:26 AM PDT by leadpenny
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To: joesbucks
"The wordsmithing is interesting."

I agree with you, I've noticed this over and again. If you don't pay very strict attention to all the details, including the festooning of facts and the play with words, the media will generally lead you to conclude something other than the truth. ~ The more discerning you are, the more you will detest the media.

15 posted on 06/25/2005 5:08:20 AM PDT by TheCrusader
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To: kimosabe31
If the President moots a draft, even under his breath, he will guarantee the election of a Democrat next cycle. Like it or not, and I do not, there is nothing for it until the next strike on the homeland. That is the cold, hard reality. A draft is simply not politically viable.

I wish it were otherwise, but it is not. We must carry on until the Iraq insurgency winds down, the Iraqis take over their own defense, or we sustain another strike.


16 posted on 06/25/2005 5:18:48 AM PDT by nathanbedford (The UN was bribed and Good Men Died)
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To: Piquaboy

How stupid of me not to remember that!!!!!


17 posted on 06/25/2005 5:20:12 AM PDT by Coldwater Creek ('We voted like we prayed")
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To: leadpenny
OK, so how do we get more forces, well the same people who reduced the forces to the ridiculously low point they are now think WE NEED A DRAFT. And Oh yeah, the obligatory 'Bush lied'.

Silly me, I thought the liberals had something constructive to say.

18 posted on 06/25/2005 5:22:43 AM PDT by Tarpon
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To: leadpenny

This is just typical of the democRAT way of "solving problems" by throwing people and money at them. They think that if it takes a woman 270 days to make a baby, then 270 women can make a baby in 1 day.


19 posted on 06/25/2005 5:36:02 AM PDT by wolfpat (dum vivimus, vivamus)
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To: TheCrusader

It's not just the MSM. It's people on our side and people in politics that represent our interests.


20 posted on 06/25/2005 5:41:33 AM PDT by joesbucks
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