If you want a war hero, talk to Jim Webb. He was decorated for valor in combat and was Reagan's Naval Secretary. He would make an excellent Secretary of Defense.
So did I. So did probably most folks here at FR. What's your point? Are American men part of the militia or not?
This guy is slobbering all over his keyboard. It is no different for Americans than it is for anybody else. Some serve on the front line, some are REMFs, and some contribute from home. Cheney has served in his own way and done a good job.
Next applicant please, keep the line moving...
Oh, yeah- maybe because he served his country during WW2. Maybe that's why he didn't pitch a hissy fit.
Yes, that all-important coalition. The author needs to acknowledge some political reality. Powell is the Secretary of STATE, by definition a DIPLOMATIC position. We do not want the SecState advocating war of any kind. That's not his job. His job is to grit his teeth and say the things that need to be said so that the ultimate goals of U.S. foreign policy can be realized. If one of those goals is taking out Saddam and turning Iraq into our own private frat house, so be it. He has no say.
It's worth remembering Cheney's speech at the Republican Convention last year. He was bleating about how the US military was unready under Clinton. His proof was a news interview with a commander somewhere who said his troops were not presently up to strength; what Cheney didn't mention was that this commander already had half his troops in Kosovo so his comment really meant that with about half his force already in the field, the remaining half - by itself - was not ... etc. After making such a fuss at the Convention, about a year later the Bush DOD announced it now had a change of goals, rather than try to maintain sufficient readiness, it was giving up on any hopes of being able to fight two wars simultaneously - essentially conceding to the situation Cheney had bitched about in his Convention speech.
It's also worth remembering what sort of troops Cheney himself had mustered when he was Secretary of Defense under Old Bush. When Operation Desert Storm started an appalling number of our volunteer servicemen and servicewomen - most of them recruited under Cheney - suddenly decided that although they had freely enlisted they suddenly had scruples about going where the action was and wanted out of the Army in the worst way. Not exactly a ringing indorsement for Cheney's notion of readiness.
Yep, Cheney managed to avoid the draft .... not like Clinton, who earned a deferment by being a top scholar, but by pulling strings. And of course Dan Quayle served ... on a golf course, and Boy George got cushy stateside duty that apparently didn't even mind his ducking out of active duty training. And all the while the Republicans were belittling the comparatively less-risky-than-combat service of Dukakis in Korea and Gore in Vietnam; heck, Republicans can avoid those war zone assignments.
Have you not heard? bin Laden views each and every taxpayer as a soldier; a part of the military. So, it really doesn't matter whether you're in uniform or not.
My advice: buy a gun-buy some shells-learn to shoot the gun-get a concealed carry permit (if your state doesn't have this law, get it passed)-be prepared to kill some terrorists within your borders (God forbid that time ever comes). Because we're all members of the military to this psycho a$$holes.
Frightfully ignorant statement. Wonder where he picked up these little morsels of misinformation.
As did many other young men, at the time. A deferral was LEGAL. There were many reasons allowed.
This brit wimp is knocking Cheney, and building up Powell. It is good management for the President to have alternate views and input. Administrations OFTEN to have the tension of such views. Powell is playing a role.
Based on what I state above, I would rather have the appeaser/dove as Secretary of State--the diplomatic side. And the warmonger/hawk on the Defense side. Just exactly as G. W. Bush does have it. Okay.