Okay, that was before my time. I think that most people would argue that the military was back in good old juggernaut form before 88, but, for arguement's sake, let's say that's true. Let's also say that in WWII, we were able to field a very large and capable Army within a few years.
Somewhere in between is the GWOT, where we suffered a massive unprovoked attack, our troop demands went through the roof, and the troop levels did not rise in any significant way.
Our leaders have not asked for more troops, and Congress has basically had to spoon feed the increases to an unwilling Department of Defense. Why is it somehow unreasonable to think that on the heels of 9/11, and with threats like al-Qa'ida, Iraq, Iran and North Korea looming, we should want a larger military?
This is a different kind of threat. It is no longer a matter of simply rounding up a bunch of cannon fodder and slap uniforms on them. It take time, effort and money to build the professional cadre to run that expanded force.
Sure, but it's been 5 years since 9/11. The longest training cycle for any MOS we run is about 2 years. If this was 2003 I'd be very understanding. It's 2006. Help is not on the way.
Thur out history too rapid expansion of a military has caused almost as many problems for the force as not building a big enough force
Big problems for the force, but bigger ones for our enemies. Besides, I'm not talking about an overnight change. We've had years to get this done. Training modern troops takes time, but not this much time.
Should we be doing more? Sure I would love too spend twice as much but that is one of the limitations of making war in a Constitutional Republic. You got to bring the people along with you, not just snap your fingers and issue orders
Again, I'd be more sympathetic to this arguement if at some point President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld had walked up to the bully pulpit and said, "We need more troops. Write your congressmen, and tell them to support my Increase Army Manpower bill. Young Americans, your country needs you. Go enlist."
If it sounds like I'm not really willing to cut the Administration some slack on this, I'm not. They looked at the Clinton era military they inherited and said, "This size is fine". If the White House needs to be brought back to Jesus the same way they were on the borders, then so be it.