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| Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/8/2007 11:57:59 AM | There are military personnel all over the world going to jail for following their consciences.
Many IDF members in Israel are serving time right now for refusing to follow orders that they consider unconscionable.
They are admired and were candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize in January 2004.
http://www.seruv.org.il/english/article.asp?msgid=211
Now that he and the group he leads are candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, David Zonsheine is looking toward the next stage of the struggle. His charisma gave the refusal of soldiers to serve in the territories a measure of legitimacy in Israeli society. The same just cause, he believes, will ultimately lead the country to come to its senses.
It seemed to be a routine interview to one of the many foreign media outlets that have shown an interest in the intriguing phenomenon of which Zonsheine is the leader: combat officers in the reserves who are telling the state that they are no longer willing to take part in the occupation of the territories.
http://www.seruv.org.il/english/movement.asp
Courage to Refuse was founded following the publication of The Combatants Letter in 2002, by a group of 50 combat officers and soldiers. The initiators of the letter Captain David Zonshein and Lieutenant Yaniv Itzkovits, officers in an elite unit, have served for four years in compulsory service, and another eight years as reserve soldiers, including long periods of active combat both in Lebanon and in the occupied territories.
During their reserve service in Gaza, in the midst of the second Intifada, the two realised that the missions confided to them as commanders in the IDF had in fact nothing to do with the defence of the State of Israel .....
I continue to admire Watada for standing up for what he thinks is right ... following his conscience.
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/10/2007 4:43:01 PM | Thank You OP & POF. If it wasn't for this site and the OP's thread I would not have known anything about this one.
I would also like to thank usma_2006 and all our other men and women in uniform.
Have you every gotten so mad about something, that when you went to the other room to do something, you forgot what you were doing?
I'm sure there is a base commander along with others at Ft Lewis, cringing, frustrated, and walking on eggs right now. Because of this Lt's actions. Instead of have their mind on the task at had, getting the men trained, ready, and logistics. The commander had to beef up post security for the 200 protesters at his gates. Do we remember a couple of years ago our men didn't have supplies like toilet paper, sun tan lotion and the like. Not to mention the young soldiers that got on the bus and witnessed this Lt's refusal to get on.
I fought in Vietnam and I now how these young men feel climbing on to that bus. I know when they get there and when they are on guard duty, during those long lonely nights, how your mind can drift off and wonder who is right and who is wrong. This is what gets people killed. Because while your daydreaming the enemy can and does sneak up on you. Some would call it psychological warfare. I see it as, how we have become our own enemy.
From what I have read on this it all started in June 2006. He was given an opportunity to work behind a desk in Iraqi. He refused. His father refused to serve in Vietnam. So with that, I think it was all preplanned.
I hate it that ACLU is using their money to support this individual. ACLU does good work but I think they were suckered into this one. If ACLU was not suckered into this one, I hope his attorney soaks them with a very very large bill. I never thought I would be rooting for an attorney. I was tempted to write the Staff Judge Advocate's Office and ask them to prolong his case and charge him with as many things as they can find, so as to make his defense cost very large. He needs to be stuck in the stockade and forgotten.
Some would say OCS is a shake and bake school. I have worked with some fine Officers from OCS. Apparently this bad apple slipped thru.
But all said and done, just give him a Dishonorable Discharge and let him go. We don't need to waste any more of our tax dollars on this individual. But then again we need to make an example of people like this.
Prime example of "like father like son", huh. More like a poor example. It was better that it came out like this than one of our good soldiers being charged with murder.
I would imagine years down the road someone would think he would make a good President.
Coward yes, just like his father.
Whatever, I guess we'll see come Feb.
Old Soldiers Never Die They Just Fade Away | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/10/2007 5:54:56 PM | I stand corrected in my statement of gratitude for the soldiers. If there were those who honorably served and even fought who have protested (sided with the coward), then I am still very grateful for their service too.
The Abu grave thing is just part of a larger condition in which the US is being held hostage by the looney bleeding heart left , from actually waging and effecting all out war aimed at actually winning! I don't expect you guys to get this, and I'm not going to waste my time trying. to aquate the abu grave stuff with the nazi death camps is patently ludicrous.
believe me... If we were actually 'allowed' to do what it takes to win..... this thing would be easily cleaned up in 60 days! there would be no freedom fighters left. I place most of the blood of these brave soldiers squarely on the hands of you (well intentioned...?) but gavely misguided anti-war folks! You don't get it. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/10/2007 7:35:54 PM |
Please explain how.
You already know the answer to that.
A firing squad for Watada and any who dared to follow his example and no over-sight, no 'rulebook', and 'no holds barred' in Iraq even if the 'collateral damage' to insurgent death rate is 100:1. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/10/2007 8:21:18 PM |
If there were those who honorably served and even fought who have protested (sided with the coward), then I am still very grateful for their service too.
His biggest mistake, as far as I can tell, was joining the military in the first place; he's obviously not suited to it. But I don't see how that makes him a coward. Nobody here has proven that he refused to go because he was afraid of getting killed/injured. It may very well be the case, but it hasn't been proven. It's just everybody's opinion. And ya know what they say about opinions....
The Abu grave thing is just part of a larger condition in which the US is being held hostage by the looney bleeding heart left , from actually waging and effecting all out war aimed at actually winning!
Well, a military court seems to disagree with you. But I guess they were constrained by that "loony left" document, the UCMJ....
believe me... If we were actually 'allowed' to do what it takes to win..... this thing would be easily cleaned up in 60 days!
No, we don't believe you. Why? Probably because we've looked at the track record of insurgencies, especially the way we fight them. It wouldn't be easy, and it wouldn't happen in 60 days. Who hasn't allowed Bush to do it his way? He's stated from the very beginning that he's given his military commanders everything they asked for. Are you saying he's lying?
I place most of the blood of these brave soldiers squarely on the hands of you (well intentioned...?) but gavely misguided anti-war folks!
I don't know what I find more sad; that you might actually believe that, or that you're saying that just to get a rise out of people.
You don't get it.
I beg to differ. Do you seriously want a clue? Start by reading "Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam" by John Nagl, and then say it could be easily done in 60 days. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/10/2007 9:18:17 PM | I place most of the blood of these brave soldiers squarely on the hands of you (well intentioned...?) but gavely misguided anti-war folks!
yeah, lets blame the people who dont want the soldiers there fighting at all... forget the guys who SENT them off to war. The guys who DONT want soldiers fighting are the reason soliders are dying?
Nice case of denial and blame-shifting you have there.
The Abu grave thing is just part of a larger condition in which the US is being held hostage by the looney bleeding heart left
No, the captives are the people who were held and tortured in Abu Graib. For most of the presidents term he has had the full support of a republican dominated congress. Those looney liberals didnt have the power to hold anyone hostage. All the power and responsiblity for this mess is all in the laps of people with the rusty, dusty, outdated conservative warmonger mindsets.
You ARE right that there is a larger condition here, but its not the one you have named. The foul actions of our nation during war indicate a lack of ethics on our part, on the parts of the soliders who commited them and their officers who either encouraged this un-american behavior, or at the very least looked the other way while we imitated our foes barbarism.
to aquate the abu grave stuff with the nazi death camps is patently ludicrous.
Right. The nazi party outright admitted to having the philosphy that jews, gypsies, etc were not people and did not deserve rights.... while america spouts "freedom and liberty for all" while we torture humans.
this thing would be easily cleaned up in 60 days!
Whatever you have been smoking, i want some.
J | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/10/2007 10:19:03 PM |
... no over-sight, no 'rulebook', and 'no holds barred' in Iraq even if the 'collateral damage' to insurgent death rate is 100:1.
Of course... the old "we had to destroy the city to save it" philosophy. Even 100:1 ratio may not be enough slack to get the job done quick.
With too many Americans, the value of human life begins and ends with US citizenship. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 7:11:00 AM | Excuse me sir, no one here would be a US citizen if we (the military) hadn't killed someone along the way to present day.
The wars today are no different than the wars in the dark ages and the wars of the future won't be any different either.
If you are a soldier, you are trained to kill, it is part of your job. Point, dot, period.
Think about it, if you don't do your job in the civilian wold, you are fired. The military offers that "out" also but with a few more penalties. And that's too bad if you don't like what you have to pay to get out. Oh yeah, hire a lawyer and whine to the media fixes that?
Put his a$$ in the brig and he gets his wish. No killing, no trip to Iraq etc. He should be a happy man and able to live with hisself.
And be sure and P.S. him that he is most definitely FIRED.
And a great big P.S.S. to you flyguy ~If you personally do not value your US citizenship, your freedoms enjoyed that are granted you by soldiers killing and dying, then move elsewhere, and do it today please. I'm sure you won't be missed, but you most surely will be forgotten. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 7:21:13 AM | | Damn right: lock the **stard up. "Oh, I love the military and all it's given me with regards to job, training, life skills, etc. Just don't ask me to do what I've signed up for." He signed his employment contract with the chance that he just might have to serve one day instead of just wearing a uniform. You choose not to? Fine, head to the brig and enjoy your stay and it'll be *nothing* like Charlie Sheen's trip in Cadence. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 8:42:52 AM | Here's the problem as I see it. I served in our proud military and I would die for my country to defend our freedoms. However, what I won't die for is a war started by the Bush administration that had nothing to do with the war on terrorism and has nothing to do with defending our freedoms. The Iraq war was a COMPLETE LIE to the American people by the Bush camp. Iraq had NOTHING TO DO with 9/11 and Al-Quaida and Osama Bin Laden. Our proud young men and women in the military should be in Afghanistan hunting down Osama Bin Laden and Al Quaida and the Taliban and NOT trying to "fix" a civil war in Iraq that the Bush administration has created.
To me it's as clear as can be. Our original objective of going to war was to wipe out Al Quaida and capture Osama Bin Laden and NOT REGIME CHANGE in a country that had no ties with terrorism. By invading Iraq, the Bush camp has created one of the BIGGEST BLUNDERS in American history! He is, in essence, destroying our military by stretching it too thin with NO END IN SIGHT. He has also destroyed our credibility in the world so even our closest allies are no longer on our side. Even Britain is distancing themselves from us and not increasing their troop numbers in conjunction with ours. What does that tell you?!
Some of the young men and women in our proud military are now going on their 3rd, 4th, and even 5th tours of duty in a war zone. THAT'S INSANE?! I have nothing but the utmost respect for our military and that's why I personally want to see the Bush administration accountable for their actions of taking us into a war that should NEVER HAVE BEEN STARTED! | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 8:54:01 AM | ^ The least thing a leader can do before asking hundreds of thousands of men and women to fight and risk death or injuries that will cripple them and make them incomplete for the rest of their lives is to tell the truth about why we're fighting.
Not this president...or his lying, murderous, thieving, criminal administration. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 9:08:32 AM | This thread sure gets my heart pumping, it has many emotional subject in it, what I want to say to the 2 Army men that spoke up on the first page of this thread is this,,I work for the government and am well aware of the "dont think" mentality they try to teach us, and in my career if we all listen to it thousands of abused children wouldnt get a chance because of the rediculous government system, why do they get a chance?? because we the people do think when the government tells us not to!!!!!!
I hear the same problem loud and clear in the army,,who is the bravest in the army now? Is it the man that shows up to Iraq, sees it is a big lie and says" no I will not fight, I believe this is a lie and we are killing and doing more damage than good"?, the way I see it, that takes an enormous amount of courage, maybe you are to young to know history, but the largest crimes set upon humanity are the crimes of people thinking there government knows best, that they must do their duty to their government, that is the mind set that causes great destruction.
If you are the least bit informed you know we are not fighting Iraq, we are now fighting the muslim belief system, we are fighting something invisible, we are fighting the tides. This is another vietnam, we are getting deeper, the death toll is rising on all sides, and now we have convinced ourselves that people should be happy when we drop a bomb on you..Thank you U.S for dropping that bomb on my nieghbor hood, for killing my uncles and relatives, now let me enjoy your democracy that will be destroyed the minute you leave, wether that is today or in 20 years | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 9:36:45 AM | Military personnel are not mindless drones programmed to do what they think is right for the most part. All the do good, feel good laws of which some are beneficial, some are not, see to that.
They honestly think, feel and BELIEVE they are indiviuals that clearly know the facts when they join a VOLUNTEER organization and what will be required of them. They think, feel and BELIEVE they are going to make a difference. Sometimes their difference is small, sometimes it is large. I am aware of the mitigating factors here so save your spouting articles and sections and laws and media reports.
Damnit! I wish I could stress the word VOLUNTEER more. Curse my lack of bolding skills.
And *sigh* this should not even have to be REPEATED ... for those of you who are going to hop on the back of the DEAD HORSE that is the Bush adminstration, get over it. He's in office, his chosen cabinet is also, and so are the congressmen and women YOU chose to represent YOUR voice in his administration.
Bush has been there for a very long time now due to overwhelming majority support. hmmm ....think about that. He shall remain there for a bit longer. His administration is no different than any other really. Look at history, they all twist and bend the truth to their reality. What's that funny line? I reject your reality and insert my own! What they want. They all lie and cheat on one or several things. Let me know when you find a country it does not occur in. I will personally buy you a one way ticket there so that you may live the rest of your days out in bliss.
And if you don't serve, have never served, I personally don't give a rats a$$ what you have to say about this subject. Go enjoy your freedom where it won't irritate me so much.
Send whiney a$$ boy to the brig and as for the rest of you ....
Thanks and have a great day! | |
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| Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 10:06:10 AM | spudman, after reading that ridiculus tirade, calling for execution, maybe Iraq or a place like it is exactly where you should go ... and stay.... since you obviously have the same mentality as they do. The person who should be going to prison is president Bush, and every member of his administration, who helped sell the lie to the american people and the world, and then fubar'd the entire operation !! over 3000 of our best people are dead, 1000's more maimed and crippled, as well as tens of 1000's of Iraqis, not to mention the 100's of billions of dollars wasted on this war. There never was an imminant threat from Iraq, there was no urgent need to attack, invade, and occupy Iraq, it was a lie, and this administration used a hard sell, to play on the fears of americans, after 9/11, its no coincidence that he started the lies, just before the midterms, and scared the democrats and the press,( both of whom share responsibility) into going along with it by playing the "your not a patriot,if you oppose us
" card. The place we needed to concentrate our efforts was Afghanistan and Pakistan, that piece of shit ,Osama, is still out there, and the Taliban is currently making a comeback, We have lost credibility in the world, and have lost leverage in the region with the allies we did have, Now Iran is emboldened, the populations in Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan,Yemen, despise us more than ever. And we have created chaos in Iraq, not democracy.
During the Vietnam war, many young americans had the courage to stand up, and protest that war, which was another lie perpetuated on the american people, and many refused to go and fight, your commander in chief, (and many other politicians, and members of the administration) had an easy way out, they had daddy's in high places to keep them out, or could afford to "avoid" duty, by going to college. Others didnt have those options , and went to Canada, or jail, Ali lost his title and his prime. the point is this war is wrong, based on lies, and has wasted american lives,recources, and credibilty.
Weather or not this lt. did the right thing or not is debatable, but for sure he is no more despicable , than George W. Bush ,Donald Rumsfeld, Condaleeza Rice, and****Cheney, and if he deserves prison, then they sure as hell do also. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 10:31:57 AM | Military personnel are not mindless drones programmed to do what they think is right for the most part. All the do good, feel good laws of which some are beneficial, some are not, see to that.
Some are, most (probably) aren't. You're generalizing just as much as those people who say that they are all mindless drones.
I am aware of the mitigating factors here so save your spouting articles and sections and laws and media reports.
Now if only we could get people to stop spouting their jingoistic tirades....
Bush has been there for a very long time now due to overwhelming majority support.
Overwhelming majority support? Since when are fractions of a percent "overwhelming majority support", except by those who believe everything Fox News tells them to believe. Talk about mindless drones....
I will personally buy you a one way ticket there....
Ahh, yes. I was wondering how long it would take for that to come out. I'm a little surprised it took so long, actually.
And if you don't serve, have never served, I personally don't give a rats a$$ what you have to say about this subject.
Another card-carrying member of the "your opinion only counts if it meets mystandards"-club. Shoulda known.
Go enjoy your freedom where it won't irritate me so much.
Sorry to disappoint you, but everybody here has just as much right to be here as you. One of the things that makes our country so great, dontcha think? Of course, if freedom of speech bothers you so much, you're more than welcome to leave any time you like.  | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 10:40:17 AM | >Bush has been there for a very long time now due to overwhelming majority support.
>hmmm ....think about that. He shall remain there for a bit longer.
Hmmm, let's see, in 2000, Bush lost the popular vote to Gore but won the Electoral vote. That is not a majority. In 2004, Bush won the popular vote 51% - 49%. Hmmm, still not an "overwhelming majority". Bush has NEVER been voted in with an overwhelming majority of support from the American people. At this time, Bush's approval ratings are at an all-time low and he is virtually alone on his war plans. The Republicans were defeated in both the House and Senate this past November by Democrats. Does that sound like Bush has an overwhelming support of the American people?! | |
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| Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 10:44:49 AM | | As a former Army soldier and who's mother works for the Army... the right to refuse an order is punishable. You sign up for the service knowing what you could possible get yourself involved in. Yes Iraq is a mess, and the Commander in Chief is heartless and senseless. But to be punished for six years in jail is bogus. The "signing" bonus can only scratch the medical,physical and mental anguish the Marine,Army, Seals and Special Ops deal w/ from coming back from Iraq. We called Lt.'s "Privates w/ Stripes"..meaning they were ROTC/College Cadets. So his say in meaning to rank, is real useless. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 10:59:33 AM | Military personnel are not mindless drones programmed to do what they think is right for the most part.....
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actually for the most part they certainly are,..that's the whole point of the method behind their training,....to get them out of the habit of thinking things through, but to act when where and how they are told,....
I went to boot camp at 25,...I was the oldest female recruit on the base and the same age as many of my instructors,...and I had been living on my own for more than a decade before that,...so I wasn't your normal recruit,....
Hence I saw it through different eyes and it was very enlightening,...I saw it for what it was,..but played along because it was required of me for the most part,....
during my 13 weeks(2 weeks longer than most courses because of a christmas break)
I was left in charge most of the time after hours,...and so the staff treated me as one of them when not in front of other recruits,....I saw the proceedure from both sides and it is a very well thought out process where initially the recruits are torn down mentaly and physically,...or this is what it seems to them then they discover that the rediculous physical demands has built up their stamina,...and the more they simply obey and do as they are told the more perks they get,....because they are immersed in the proceedure and are given no time to dwell on anything but whatever task at hand,....they either break and are dropped or they conform,....
The leaders are the ones who bear the responsibillities for the bodies they are given and in how they use them,....and if these leades keep you breathing and walking upright and you believe as you are trained to do that if you do what they tell you then your chances of continuing to do just that increase,....you do first then think,....
The risk of having leaders doing the wrong thing and thinking too much increases with every extension they are forced to endure,...this part is something we should all worry about,...
how many of the ones over there now have had 2 or 3 or even more extensions,....or recalls?
He's doing it again, (Bush that is) according to his speech,...
extending the time of those there,...
and recalling ones who have been there already,....this is not a good thing,...
and even though Americans are goin g to have 22,000 more boots on the ground,...
the coalition of the no longer willing is retreating in number that may equall that
so where are you after all,...ahead,...or treadding water,....and how long can you tread? | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 11:58:57 AM | about volunteering ,,, when these young boys grow up they believe the U.S military to be a place to go to, to be the good guy, to shoot or rid the bad guy, most of them are natioanal gaurd, they signed up to protect this country against natioanal disatsters and incoming attacks, NOT ever thinking they would be sent off to invade a country that has done no wrong to the U.S, and especially as big of a dumb ass mistake as to invade a muslim country in the midst of a bunch of other muslim countries that do not like U.S . what a cluster Fu_ _ we have created..The main thing is we all take responsibility and be more careful and get more involved...and I say hooray for the soldiers that have the courage to say" I will no longer kill these people, just because they done want me to invade and take over" . But more importantly for you soldiers on this forum,,the time will come,,like vietnam, when, those that got us out of vietnam were the heroes,,the brave, I suppose the soldiers that get us out of Iraq will be the only ones with a self,,they can live with someday,,really, look around, I see many of the soldiers doing vietnam all over again, because they dont believe down deep that these people should be being killed, and the thousands of women and children that have been killed and will still be killed while we are slinging our big guns around.
Wake up, the christian muslim problam is huge,,way bigger than something a gun can ever cure. | |
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 12:40:28 PM | WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon has abandoned its limit on the time a citizen-soldier can be required to serve on active duty, officials said Thursday, a major change that reflects an Army stretched thin by longer-than-expected combat in Iraq.
The day after President Bush announced his plan for a deeper U.S. military commitment in Iraq, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the change in reserve policy would have been made anyway because active-duty troops already were getting too little time between their combat tours.
The Pentagon also announced it is proposing to Congress that the size of the Army be increased by 65,000, to 547,000 and that the Marine Corps, the smallest of the services, grow by 27,000, to 202,000, over the next five years. No cost estimate was provided, but officials said it would be at least several billion dollars.
Until now, the Pentagon's policy on the Guard or Reserve was that members' cumulative time on active duty for the Iraq or Afghan wars could not exceed 24 months. That cumulative limit is now lifted; the remaining limit is on the length of any single mobilization, which may not exceed 24 consecutive months, Pace said.
In other words, a citizen-soldier could be mobilized for a 24-month stretch in Iraq or Afghanistan, then demobilized and allowed to return to civilian life, only to be mobilized a second time for as much as an additional 24 months. In practice, Pace said, the Pentagon intends to limit all future mobilizations to 12 months.
Members of the Guard combat brigades that have served in Iraq in recent years spent 18 months on active duty - about six months in pre-deployment training in the United States, followed by about 12 months in Iraq. Under the old policy, they could not be sent back to Iraq because their cumulative time on active duty would exceed 24 months. Now that cumulative limit has been lifted, giving the Pentagon more flexibility.
The new approach, Pace said, is to squeeze the training, deployment and demobilization into a maximum of 12 months. He called that a "significant planning factor" for Guard and Reserve members and their families.
David Chu, the Pentagon's chief of personnel, said in an interview that he thinks Guard and Reserve members will be cheered by the decision to limit future mobilizations to 12 months. The fact that some with previous Iraq experience will end up spending more than 24 months on active duty is "no big deal," Chu said, because it has been "implicitly understood" by most that they eventually would go beyond 24 months.
A senior U.S. military official who briefed reporters Thursday on Iraq-related developments said that by next January, the Pentagon "probably will be calling again" on National Guard combat brigades that previously served yearlong tours in Iraq. Under Pentagon ground rules, the official could not be further identified.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing with Pace, announced several other changes in Guard and Reserve policy:
_Although the Pentagon's goal is to mobilize Guard and Reserve units no more frequently than one year out of six, the demands of wartime will require calling up some units more often than that. They provided no details on how many units would be remobilized at the faster pace or when that would begin to happen.
Army officials had been saying for some time that more frequent mobilizations were necessary because the active-duty force is being stretched too thin. Gates' announcement is the first confirmation of the change.
_To allow for more cohesion among Guard and Reserve units sent into combat, they will be deployed as whole units, rather than as partial units or as individuals plugged into a unit they do not normally train with.
_Extra pay will be provided for Guard and Reserve troops who are required to mobilize more than once in six years; active-duty troops who get less than two years between overseas deployments also will get extra pay. Details were not provided.
_Military commanders will review their administration of a hardship waiver program "to ensure that they have properly taken into account exceptional circumstances facing military families of deployed service members."
As part of Bush's plan for boosting U.S. troop strength in Iraq, a brigade of National Guard soldiers from Minnesota will have its yearlong tour in Iraq extended by 125 days, to the end of July, and a Patriot missile battalion will be sent to the Persian Gulf next month, the Army said Thursday.
Maj. Randy Taylor, a spokesman for the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, at Fort Bliss, Texas, said the Patriot unit was aware of the announced deployment. He said no formal order had been received Thursday.
The dispatching of a Patriot missile battery, capable of defending against shorter-range ballistic missile attacks, appeared linked to Bush's announcement Wednesday that he ordered an aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, which would be in easy reach of Iran, whose nuclear program is a U.S. concern.
Navy officials said the carrier heading to the Gulf region is the USS John C. Stennis, which previously had been in line to deploy to the Pacific. It was not clear Thursday how the Pentagon intended to compensate in the Pacific for the absence of the Stennis in that region, where a chief worry is North Korea.
The Marines announced that two infantry units - the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, and the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment - will stay in Iraq 60 to 90 days longer than scheduled. That will enable the Marines to have a total of eight infantry battalions in western Anbar province, instead of the current six, by February. Once the 60- to 90-day extension is over, an additional two battalions will be sent in early from their U.S. bases.
Also, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which combines infantry with a helicopter squadron and a logistics battalion, totaling about 2,200 Marines, will stay in Anbar for 45 more days.
Those extensions conform with Bush's announcement that he was ordering 4,000 more Marines to Anbar.
The military tries to avoid extending combat tours and sending forces earlier than planned because it disrupts the lives of troops and their families and makes it harder for the services to get all troops through the education and training programs they need for promotions. But in this case it was deemed unavoidable
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I suspect that this is the case because the only other option would be to return the draft,...and I suspect they would get their butts handed to them if they tried this now,....
but with every time someone is deployeyd they care less about civilians and their needs,...and more about their own hides and retrebution for those buddies that didn't make it,...
and that list get's longer for every one deployed, how much grief is one person expected to repress????,....
this can only go badly,....
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| Do Not Support 1st U.S. Army Officer to Speak Out Against Iraq War
Posted: 1/12/2007 1:26:04 PM | When the nation is deceived and misled by a criminal administration, as we are now; I would consider the oath to serve no more binding than an oath to the mafia.
Just like individuals, a nation is what it does. This president has used his office to misuse the public trust that people have when they make an oath like that.
Bush has destroyed US credibility to our own citizens as well as the world. He should be impeached so new leaders can come in and have an opportunity to rebuild trust and faith in government.
Impeaching Bush and Cheney would be a dam good way to do it. | |
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