We are now at a bare bones defense manpower wise. We have been there since about 1996. We don't have nothing to show for those increases. Look at the figures I linked. Some defense contractor friends got money for Iraq big deal. Ever stop and think why it is that in 2000 in the debates with Gore he was against nation building? He said that then he turned right around using money and funds which should have gone for more troops and rebuilt Iraq. Yippie the next Radical Cleric or Military Dictator Saddam Wanna Be Thug who takes over the nation next {that is the Islamic way of life in case you missed it} now has a fully manned military and rebuilt nation. Thank you George W Bush!
Do you realize how many ship yards we have that can build a carrier now? One. We once had four and used two. The other only east coast shipyard which can even do carriers repairs is across the river from it. That is in the Norfolk area. The other carrier yard is in Washington State and they can't build. So what? Well shipbuilding is not a skill you hire off the street and say here ya go do it. We not only shut them down we sold the property snd destroying the tooling for many vital defense programs. Not even Russia was that stupid. Within a decade China was pass us up defense wise.
Better yet let me make it even more clear and I'll let you think about it. The peak of our military capability and might was reached in 1988 or slightly before. That should have been the record military budget and we had plenty to show for it. The strongest and most ready standing U.S. military in history.
I would say much of the money since 1989 on ended up in contractors hands. Any support I had for W went out the window after the first week of the Iraqi war when night after night key targets which are supposed to be the first hits in war remained intact. Bagdad Bob wasn't funny he was a symptom of screwed up strategy policies on our part. Next was even worse. You want to tell me Bush loved the military so much. Then you answer me this then. WHY, WHY, WHY, were America's Finest serving in Iraq SUBJECT TO UNPRECIDENTED COURT MARTIALS FOR DOING THEIR JOB AND THEIR DUTY IN IRAQ? The Bush appointees he had say over cared more about not hurting some Murdering Islamic Figurheads Feelings than he did about the rights and safety of our own troops.
In war you do things you have to do and innocents die. Can't handle it? Then don't do it. Better yet can't handle it don't tell someone else to do it for you theen punish them for it.
As a soldier or Marine if you recieve fire from a suspected target you return same. I don't care who is in that home. Destroy it and all in it then and there and move on. End of discussion on that part.
How dare he sit back and let his appointed clowns in the Pentagon second guess them. His mouth as always said one thing and his allowed policies and lack of acting when he should have on behalf of our troops said another. Murtha was bad enough.
GW Bush as Commander In Chief had full authority to tell The Secretary of Defense to lay off our troops. He had full authority to set the Rules of Engagement in Iraq and the ROE's in Iraq were about as insane and useless as the ones LBJ/McNamara issued in Nam.
Loving them is not court martialing them on the word of a nation of liars who basically hated our guts to start with. Get a Clue. The war in Iraq should have ended his first term. Saddam should have either been shot when found or turned over to a U.S. military tribunal for trial and exicution. War isn't about nation building it's about punishment and elimination of an enemy nation. We understood this up through WW2.
And I’m telling you that I understand/agree with the COMPLETE context that informed President Bush’s decisions vis a vis our military and our War on Terror, most of which are detailed here:
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/defense/
-
-
We have exhausted this topic; time to move on.
Again, I thank you for your service and I continue to pray for the success and safety of our military (which includes MANY close friends and family members).