What if you waged a war and nobody came?

Many Troops Dissatisfied, Iraq Poll Finds, Washington Post, October 16, 2003:

A broad survey of U.S. troops in Iraq by a Pentagon-funded
newspaper found that half of those questioned described their unit's
morale as low and their training as insufficient, and said they do not
plan to reenlist.
The survey, conducted by the Stars and Stripes newspaper, also recorded
about a third of the respondents complaining that their mission lacks
clear definition and characterizing the war in Iraq as of little or no
value. Fully 40 percent said the jobs they were doing had little or
nothing to do with their training. The findings, drawn from 1,935
questionnaires presented to U.S. service members throughout Iraq,
conflict with statements by military commanders and Bush administration
officials that portray the deployed troops as high-spirited and
generally well-prepared. Though not obtained through scientific
methods, the survey results suggest that a combination of difficult
conditions, complex missions and prolonged tours in Iraq is wearing
down a significant portion of the U.S. force and threatening to provoke
a sizable exodus from military service.

Military Backs Bush More Than Civilians Do � But Not By Much, Air Force Times, December 29, 2003:

Despite a year of constant combat casualties and long,
grinding overseas tours, men and women in uniform strongly back
President Bush and his policies in Iraq, according to a Military Times
Poll.
But the poll indicates support for administration policy in Iraq is not
much higher in the military than among U.S. civilians. Both military
members and civilians, poll results show, are more likely to voice
approval for the president�s overall performance than for his Iraq
policies.
The poll also found overwhelming sentiment that more than two years of
combat have stretched the military so thin that its effectiveness has
eroded.

But here's the most striking section of the aforementioned article:

When asked if "[t]he nation's civilian leadership [h]as my best interest at heart," the responses broke down as follows:

Strongly agree -- 5%

Agree -- 38%

Disagree -- 35%

Strongly disagree -- 5%

No opinion -- 16%

In other words, at least 40% of our Armed Forces disagree or strongly disagree that "[t]he nation's civilian leadership [h]as my best interest at heart".

Army Trying to Keep Troops From Leaving, AP News, Mon Jan 5, 2003:

About 7,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan
who were planning to retire or otherwise leave the service in the next
few months are getting new marching orders: Stay put.
The Army is expanding what it calls a "stop loss" order to keep
soldiers in uniform � even those who have met their contractual
service obligation or are scheduled to retire � during a rotation of
tens of thousands of troops that begins this month and is scheduled to
finish in May.
...
Prior to the war in Afghanistan, "stop loss" authority had rarely been
used; it is seen by many as being in conflict with the principle of an
all-volunteer military in which enlisted personnel sign contracts for a
specific period of service. It was first used in the 1991 Gulf War.

So, you ask, how is Bush going to deal with the situation? No problem -

Strained U.S. Army Offers Fat Re-Enlistment Bonuses, Reuters, Tue Jan 6, 2003:

The U.S. Army, stressed by global deployments, is offering
re-enlistment bonuses of up to $10,000 to soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan
and Kuwait, Army officials said on Monday.
Soldiers currently in those countries -- and others headed there in the
coming three months to replace them -- could receive lump payments of
between $5,000 and $10,000 for enlisting for at least three years of
additional Army service, the officials told reporters.

Such a typical Republican solution. Bribe soldiers into re-enlisting and then cut veteran's benefits:

Congressional Democrats are also fighting against the Bush
administration's attempts to cut veteran's benefits and services.
Earlier this year, House Republicans voted to cut veteran's health care
services by $28 billion over 10 years. Democrats forced the Pentagon to
abandon its plan to cut the pay of troops serving in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Two-hundred thousand lower income military families were
left out of the child tax credit so that Bush could give a tax cut to
the wealthy. President Bush cut access to health care benefits for
160,000 middle-income veterans and proposed closing seven VA hospitals
in New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi, California and Texas.

Disgusting. I can't even comment on this. I find it all far too sickening and depressing.

Posted by flow Frazao on January 6, 2004 at 12:39 PM | Permalink