Posted on 07/18/2006 5:44:44 AM PDT by Quilla
Well let's be honest about it. We're still working with the same military that Clinton gutted, same size, same equipment, same problems. Only now it's stretched further than he ever imagined. So what responsibility does Bush bear?
OK, I'll spell it out for you - Clinton broke it, no doubt about it. Bush has had five and a half years (with a GOP Congress) to fix it. He hasn't.
No, we do not need a draft. What we do need, however, we will not get. We need people in positions of power - political, media, and clergy - yes, the clergy - to tell the American public what the hell is going on and who are enemy is.
I had 19 and a half years in when they offered me a buyout. I had the option of taking $70,000 before taxes and giving up my retirement, medical benefits, commissary and exchange, etc. or staying in. It didn't take a genius to do the math.
I thought that's what you meant. I just wanted you to state it clearly, because it is so ridiculously inane.
It could be fixed in 5-6 years, in peace time, with an unlimited budget... but I doubt it. Building up the military is an involved an complex process. Getting Congress to go along with it is a different but equally complex and involved process. Between the natural constraints of rebuilding the military that are within the executive's powers, and the political constraints of dealing with a Congress unwilling to allocate money for both the war on terror and expansion of the military, the task of rebuilding the military is a multi-administration job which will have to be pursued by a successor, if not a couple successors before the job is completed.
It isn't anywhere near as easy as you imply.
It's been over five years. Please detail the efforts and the progress made by Bush in that time.
Why don't you tell me what he could've done, because the fact of the matter is that it is painfully obvious that the administration has done everything it can to support the military.
Heck, I'm curious to know how you would go about rebuilding the military, convincing Congress to go along with your plan, and how you think it could be done in less than 5 years while you're fighting two wars, maintaining troops in multiple countries, attempting a strategic redeployment to meet future threats, and investing in R&D programs, like the missile defense program, that would bankrupt even one of our western allies.
I'm sorry, but your statements implying that the President could somehow effect an even more dramatic turn around of the military than he already has, in the time he has so far been allotted, is beyond silly - it is irrational.
I was right at 13, with minimal debt and single.
Really didn't like the way things were going and was ready to jump.
Still went over 20 and retired. Got married, divorced and now I'm in hock to my eyeballs-20/20 hindsight I guess
As I thought, you cannot point to any effort by Bush to fix this so you do what the shallow-thinkers always do...try to belittle the question and say, the answer is 'painfully obvious', therefore avoiding actually addressing it with facts.
bttt
Hardly, your position is ridiculous and irrational.
Explain how.....you can't so you hide.
I have already explained it. You refuse to accept my explanation of why 5 years is insufficient time to recover from the damage that Clinton imposed upon the military and the intelligence organizations.
Your implication that it is enough time is unsubstantiated wishful thinking on your part. You pretend that the President can click icons on a computer screen and expand the military, during war time, without Congressional assistance, and disregarding natural constraints, such as enlist/re-enlistment rates, and attrition rates, training time, equipment replacement and retirement, and costs associated with both.
The issue of restoring the military is a lot more complex than you pretend it to be. Your version of reality that expects the President to have done so by now is an absolute fantasy.
But if you refuse to accept my argument, then no explanation will persuade you that I have even offered an argument. You however, have offered no argument except to restate your original belief over and over again. Now don't bother me with your irrational inanity. You're clearly beyond help in this matter. Believe what you will.
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