The Center for Military Readiness has issued a CMR Policy Analysis of the Army’s latest plans, and sent it to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, House and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairmen Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and John Warner (R-VA), Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and other high-level civilian and uniformed officials in the Departments of Defense and the Army. That document is posted on CMR's web site at the link provided at the end of this article.
In response, the Army issued a three-sentence non-denial that tried but failed to conceal the truth. (See link posted here.) With all of the controversy about whether there are enough troops in Iraq or not, it is disheartening to see officials of the US Army planning to send female soldiers into land combat. The same people who retained counter-productive gender recruiting quotas to meet Clinton-era social goals are now forcing unprepared female soldiers to pay the price for their short-sighted, poor judgment. In doing so, they are knowingly compromising combat efficiency in the new unit of action combat brigades, which don’t deserve to be saddled with unprecedented social burdens in a time of war.
Americans who care about men and women in the military, and oppose policies that will make their jobs more difficult and more dangerous, should call or write the Chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA, 202/225-5672) and Sen. John Warner (R-VA, 202/224-2023).
President George W. Bush, who can be reached through the White House Opinion Line, 202/456-1414, should be asked to intervene immediately to bring the Army back into compliance with law and policy. Forcing female soldiers into land combat should not be allowed to stand as the first major policy change in President Bush’s new administration.
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There seems to be an awareness that the "Bush Pentagon" is not made up only of "Bush appointees" but continues to be stuffed full of Clinton holdovers who just may still exert some influence.
Frankly, I agree with these concerns wholeheartedly but think the title including "Bush Pentagon" is ludicrous.
I agree with you that the problem most certainly started with Clinton (as so many problems do). I'm 100% behind GWB and fully support SecDef Rumsfeld. That being said, I have no problem with Miss Donnelly saying "Bush Pentagon". The fact is that no matter who originated this problem it is indeed in CinC Bush's Pentagon now and he can easily solve it if he so desires.