Arkansas Blog

The whole military system is about to crash and burn, and Rummy got out in time to avoid most of the flack.

I heard a report on NPR the other day that National Guard units all over the country have, on average, only 35% of the equipment they're supposed to have. It's all been sent to Iraq and will never come back.

It reminds me of Huckabee leaving the emergency fund empty and taking everything with him when he left. The next President and Congress will find a devastated military and face raising the money to rebuild the shambles they find.

It will cost a fortune. Can you imagine what Bush's popularity would be if he had raised the money (taxed) in a pay-as-you-go manner to pay for all he has spent. The only reason 30% still support him is that they're the ones who would only turn on him if he raised their taxes.

Yo! Is it possible for a non government group to start a drive to sell war bonds with the express purpose of buying protective equipment for our Guard? What is happening to the troops is criminal.

The best way to protect the troops is to get them out, now!

Good thing we have a Adj. General of the National Guard who has experience leading the 39th in Iraq. Oh, wait, Gov. Beebe fired him. Never mind...

"Over the next year roughly one-third of the soldiers in the 39th will have their enlistment contracts expire or be eligible for retirement, Captain Heathscott said."

But I thought monkeyboy's gang had effectively made such things as enlistment contracts and/or retirement irrelevant.

"Good thing we have a Adj. General of the National Guard who has experience leading the 39th in Iraq. Oh, wait, Gov. Beebe fired him. Never mind..."

Is this the same person who allowed our Guard members to be whored out all over the country so their over-deployment wouldn't interfere with Rummy's need for more bodies? Or who allowed many Guard members to be treated as second-class soldiers (compared to the 'regular' military)? Or who allowed many Guard members to be nit-picked out of pay that was rightfully due them (etc. combat pay/equipment damage)?

He might not have the driving force behind much of treatment of our Guard; but he was the person in charge of making sure my brother had the best this country/state could offer while he was serving in Iraq/Egypt.

Besides, if Beebe fired him...that's good enough for me. And, given what a good little soldier he's been for the Republican war machine, I'm sure there'll be many lucrative jobs in his future.

Please sign this petition by Wesley Clark and the VoteVets group against going to war in Iran. Stop the Iran War.

"All Americans want to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons and interfering on the ground inside Iraq.

Yet, President Bush's continued saber rattling gives the US little additional leverage to engage and dissuade Iran, and, more than likely, simply accelerates a dangerous slide into war. The United States can do better than this."....
There's more....

http://www.stopiranwar.com/

There is a simple solution to the 600 rifle short fall.

We can just do what the Russians used to do: Just send 'em out in teams with one rifle. Whoever gets shot first doesn't need theirs anymore.

John Murtha's latest proposal now makes perfect sense. Our troops are not trained, they are not rested, they are not equipped and they are about to quit. Our 39th will likely never see Iraq again if Murtha gets his way because there is no way these Bush incompetents can do what needs to be done to make our troops ready. This is regardless of the ethics lapse by this administration in what it promised these men and women.
The GOP pussys ["men" who refused to serve] give lip service to the military, use them like whores, and then ignore them by reducing VA benefits/shameful mal-treatment at Walter Reed/ and breach of contract. God and everyone [with an understanding of the history of the Middle East] knows this is a bad war, will end badly, and will not be dependent upon 20,000 or 2 million troops. Only the delusional believe "success" is at the end of that tunnel. The rest of us realize the oncoming light is a freight train destroying our people, treasure and reputation.

www.arkstar.blogspot.com

I volunteer Bush and Cheney to lead us on taht mission.