US Army Near Breaking Point
According to a new report, the Army has become a “thin green line” that could snap if relief doesn’t come quickly. And I say these hippie-dippie peaceniks who created this report can take their terrorist-loving America-hating asses back to the Pentagon.
That’s right. This 136-page report was written for the Pentagon by retired Army officer Andrew Krepinevich. He said the Army cannot sustain the current level of troop deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said “you really begin to wonder just how much stress and strain there is on the Army, how much longer it can continue.”
In one chapter of his report, he wrote that the Army is “in a race against time” to adjust to the demands of war “or risk ‘breaking’ the force in the form of a catastrophic decline” in recruitment and re-enlistment.
The Army fell short of its recruiting goals for 2005, and that’s in spite of raising the maximum enlistment age and taking on more and more drug addicts, high school dropouts and people with criminal records.
OK, calling all Chickenhawks and Keyboard Warriors (come on, you know who you are): If you’re in favor of the Iraqi war but are not over there actively fighting in it, your country needs you NOW. And no, having one of those “Support Our Troops” magnets on your car doesn’t count.
Please demonstrate your patriotism by performing these two steps:
Visit this site and read a few of the posts. Come on, it’s your war — why aren’t you fighting it??? After becoming sufficiently ashamed and guilt-ridden, you should be motivated to:
Click here and follow the instructions for locating the nearest recruiter, contacting him/her, and ENLISTING.
Being a proud member of the 101st Fighting Chickenhawks doesn’t cut it. Either walk the walk, or get those asinine magnets and stickers off your car.
posted by Tom Harper @ 8:12 PM
15 Comments:
Hear Hear!!!! But people get mighty quiet or hemmy or hawwy when they talk about being for the war and claims to support the troops - when you ask them to their face why they haven't enlisted.
Can the US Army overthrow the President of America in a coup as we do in Africa?
Amen.
Frstlymil: Oh yeah, they get more than hemmy or hawwy -- they get downright hostile. I've left occasional comments at rightwing pro-war blogs that the writer could be more helpful to the war effort by enlisting instead of just sitting at their keyboard typing about it. I've gotten some pretty colorful responses.
Orikinla Osinachi: It's never happened, but that's not the same thing as saying "it can't happen here." We have to always be vigilant. Right now the Army is probably too understaffed and ill-equipped to overthrow our government :)
The Awesomist: Thanks. Amen.
I'm not sure how much closer the military can come to being broken. Since noone will admit that it is broken, I can only assume that we continually lower the bar on what "broken" means. The good news is that this can't go on indefinitely, there just isn't enough money.
At some point, I think the survival instinct will have to kick in at the pentagon. I think the Pentagon's Generals have told Murtha that they are on the brink, and that if they don't pull back, they may sustain some very serious structural damage that could take a long time to repair. I don't think the Pentagon is willing to let George Bush grind the US Army down much more than it already has.
CoolAqua
I was talking to my friend the other day about all the good wars we have fought and this war the first great war. We have never served and don't plan on it, we will continue to support our skull and bones president no matter where he takes us because anything else in un-American.
CoolAqua: I think you're right. At some critical point, the Pentagon will prevail against letting these crazed Neocons run them into the ground.
Jake: Ah yes, we have to show our patriotism by supporting Bush no matter what he does. I stand behind my Commander-in-Chief :)
There's a silver lining in this report. If Krepinevich's analysis is correct, launching an offensive in Iran might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back for Bush, Rove and company.
Trey: I think you're right. The shape the Army is in right now will probably prevent us from invading Iran. And if we do invade, the backlash against Bush/ Cheney/ Rumsfeld will be irreversible.
Tom, the military might not be strong or well-equipped enough to take over the government. When Bush throws up his force shield, nothing penetrates.
However, I agree with what "anonymous" said about survival instinct eventually kicking in at the Pentagon. I wonder how many neocon-PNAC types work there... If they number in the minority, maybe we could see a military overthrow of the Bush administration.
I have always admired our military. I feel badly for the current situation re. Iraq. I like to believe we have a number of military leaders whose blood boils when they think of the way our military is being used in Iraq and when they look at the ways in which the president lies, skirts around the Constitution, tries to bypass the Senate and Congress... and basically declares himself as able to do whatever he wants. If our military ever did pull off such a thing, i.e. a coup, I like to believe it would be a very temporary situation until new elections could be held.
However, human nature being what it is, once you're in power, why give up power?
A coup would never happen here. The military has a job to protect our country, and I doubt that mutiny against the commander in chief is on the military agenda, even if the captain of the ship closely resembles Captain Queeg.
Snave: I doubt if we'd ever come to the point of the military overthrowing the government. But there isn't much common ground. Like you say, there probably aren't many PNAC types at the Pentagon -- two different mindsets.
I think more and more people in the Pentagon (and retired war heroes like John Murtha) are clashing with the Bush Administration. This can only be good.
But, but- Rummy just said the troops are not overextended!
Daedalus: Uh oh, and Rummy wouldn't lie. That Commie Liberal Media must be lying again.
We can always count on Ronald Dumsfeld to tell the truth, eh.
Snave: Ah yes, unwavering trust in our Leaders is what made America great.
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