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Congress pushes for larger military
USA Today ^
| Posted 12/12/2003 12:21 AM
| By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
Posted on 12/11/2003 9:40:58 PM PST by 11th_VA
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:41:35 AM PDT by Jim Robinson.
[history]
WASHINGTON
(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iraq
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Can wait to hear the French & Germans react...
1
posted on
12/11/2003 9:40:59 PM PST
by
11th_VA
To: 11th_VA
Do you feel that draft ?? Common sense will tell you that it is in the making..That's a fact.
To: 11th_VA
So what gets cut to make room in the budget for more defense spending? Or are we just making the deficit bigger again?
3
posted on
12/11/2003 9:46:35 PM PST
by
squidly
To: squidly
I didn't want to mention that part ...
4
posted on
12/11/2003 9:47:35 PM PST
by
11th_VA
(If you can read this IN ENGLISH - Thank a Veteran !!!)
To: DreamWeaver
Do you feel that draft ?? Common sense will tell you that it is in the making..That's a fact. Faster than what was thought..Well guys, it's here..What's the plan now?
5
posted on
12/11/2003 9:50:11 PM PST
by
Bella
To: squidly
So what gets cut to make room in the budget for more defense spending? Or are we just making the deficit bigger again? It was already figured in the budget already..
6
posted on
12/11/2003 9:51:21 PM PST
by
Bella
To: Bella
It was already figured in the budgetGood. Since Congress won't let Rumsfeld restructure the way he wants to, I'm glad to see they're stepping up to the plate to do what needs to be done.
7
posted on
12/11/2003 9:53:06 PM PST
by
squidly
To: 11th_VA
And how do they propose, beyond a draft, to accomplish this?
Maybe they ought to enforce the law ignored by the leftists on our campuses that illegally won't allow the military to recruit or have an ROTC program.
Come on Congress. Cut their funds.
8
posted on
12/11/2003 9:54:05 PM PST
by
Fledermaus
(Fascists, Totalitarians, Baathists, Communists, Socialists, Democrats - what's the difference?)
To: Fledermaus
Here's a novel idea. Bring our troops home from Germany, South Korea, Haiti, Bosnia (the ONE YEAR Clinton said they'd be there expired 5 years ago), Kosovo, Okinawa, etc.
That's got to be close to 150,000 right there.
9
posted on
12/11/2003 9:56:10 PM PST
by
Fledermaus
(Fascists, Totalitarians, Baathists, Communists, Socialists, Democrats - what's the difference?)
To: Fledermaus
DRAFT. How many people in this forum are draftable age?
10
posted on
12/11/2003 9:59:15 PM PST
by
Bella
To: 11th_VA
You mean we're going to refurbish the MILITARY which the Clintons DECIMATED?......GOOD....
11
posted on
12/11/2003 10:01:55 PM PST
by
goodnesswins
(If Hillary RUNS for Prez........ahhhh....................I can't say it.....)
To: DreamWeaver
Do you feel that draft ?? Common sense will tell you that it is in the making..That's a fact.I doubt it. That will be a last resort because of the social upheaval it would cause and its unpopularity with the elites whose own children would be exposed to it.
12
posted on
12/11/2003 10:08:31 PM PST
by
WackyKat
To: Bella
Not me. I would happily volunteer now but they won't take me at my age in the middle 40's. And I don't need to see combat, I'm happy to free up other military personnel to be used by doing administrative and other work.
13
posted on
12/11/2003 10:09:29 PM PST
by
Fledermaus
(Fascists, Totalitarians, Baathists, Communists, Socialists, Democrats - what's the difference?)
To: 11th_VA
This bill won't bring the military back to the size it was 10, 15 years ago. If we didn't need a draft then, we won't need one now.
In fact, they could easily solve the retention problems with a few strokes of the pen, mostly in eliminating Cliton era BS. More troops would help reduce overdeploying our resources. There's lots of dead end places like Germany and the Balkans that we could pull out of as well, and shift forward closer to the action.
14
posted on
12/11/2003 10:16:18 PM PST
by
Steel Wolf
(There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.)
To: Fledermaus
From what I read, they said they would be drafting medical people to the age of 45, engineers, computers, and a few other needed..You can bet your bottom dollar there's going to be a lot of unhappy campers.
Remember the thread about the type of injuries that they weren't prepared for?--more BRAIN injuries than what was anticipated. This is NOT good one bit!
15
posted on
12/11/2003 10:18:31 PM PST
by
Bella
To: DreamWeaver
Yep, that's what they're really pushing for - they know the draft is the quickest way to put an end to any vigorous defense of this country if not an end to the military itself.
16
posted on
12/11/2003 10:32:19 PM PST
by
Let's Roll
(Support our brave troops as they protect us from evil.)
To: 11th_VA
I also think that there is great worry that they are going to lose a great deal of Guard and Reserve forces (primarily Army) if they use them at the first conflict that comes up, and for extended periods of time (like 12-18 months). Of course, some joined and never thought they'd get called up (wont miss these people), but a lot knew they could get called up...just not to this degree, especially if they become peacekeepers.
We need a larger active force...I don't think we need to go back to the 2.1 million during the Cold War, but we do not have enough now. I would like to see more troops taken out of Europe...keeping strategic airbases is probably of more value I would think...
17
posted on
12/11/2003 10:35:26 PM PST
by
Tacos
To: Tacos
I would like to see more troops taken out of Europe They're not taking any troops out of anywhere. They're trying to get more troops worldwide, and from somewhere I read about the increased amounts of suicides in Iraq and how many guys were taking off. Things aren't good.
18
posted on
12/11/2003 10:39:42 PM PST
by
Bella
To: Bella
I would like to some troops taken out of Europe, but I still think we need a larger active force, some from taking excess troops out of places like Europe but mostly through increased recruitment levels.
Morale is something to be concerned about of course.
19
posted on
12/11/2003 10:51:30 PM PST
by
Tacos
To: Let's Roll
"Yep, that's what they're really pushing for - they know the draft is the quickest way to put an end to any vigorous defense of this country if not an end to the military itself."
Upon what evidence or reasoning do you base such a supposition?
In spite of the relative unpopularity of Vietnam, most conscripts reported and served out their obligations. I did, alongside many others. (I worked in personnel, where I saw the records.)
I expect that if a draft was deemed necessary to defend against the muslim terrorists, most would once again comply and serve well.
The fact of 9/11/2001 is compelling. Thus far military leadership has NOT deemed it necessary. Another 9/11/2001 attack could change that.
I would then expect pre-emption to take on entirely new meaning. Justifiably.
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