Guardian: Troops in Iraq Exhausted

[Tsiyu]

This Pollyanna army

Bush will not admit that his troops are too exhausted to sustain his vengeful global missions

Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday January 27, 2005
The Guardian

The most penetrating critique of the realism informing President Bush's second inaugural address, a trumpet call of imperial ambition, was made one month before it was delivered, by Lt Gen James Helmly, chief of the US Army Reserve.
In an internal memorandum, he described "the Army Reserve's inability under current policies, procedures and practices ... to meet mission requirements associated with Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. The Army Reserve is additionally in grave danger of being unable to meet other operational requirements and is rapidly degenerating into a broken force".

These "dysfunctional" policies are producing a crisis "more acute and hurtful", as the Reserve's ability to mobilise troops is "eroding daily".

The US force in Iraq of about 150,000 troops is composed of a "volunteer" army that came into being with the end of military conscription during the Vietnam war. More than 40% are National Guard and Reserves, most having completed second tours of duty and being sent out again.

more:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1399444,00.html

[DulceDecorum]

1. And a big Thank You goes out to:

The Department of Defense Office of Force Transformation that was created by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld "in support of President George Walker Bush's broad mandate to transform the Nation's military capabilities."
http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=Office_of_Force_Transformation

These guys think they won.
http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/seaservices/8_17/national_news/22925-1.html

Date: January 20, 2005
The Pentagon’s transformation czar, Arthur Cebrowski, who has influenced thinking and helped shape policy on how to prepare for future military challenges, will retire at the end of this month on doctor’s orders, according to his spokesman.
http://defense.iwpnewsstand.com/
And not a moment too soon.

[leftchick]

2. Wow Sydney nails it again....

I would love to see this show up in an American publication.


~snip~
But the speech was aflame with images of destruction and vengeance. The neoconservatives were ecstatic, perhaps as much by their influence in inserting their gnostic codewords into the speech as the dogmatism of the speech itself.

For them, Bush's rhetoric about "eternal hope that is meant to be fulfiled" was a sign of their triumph. The speech, crowed neocon William Kristol, who consulted on it, was indeed "informed by Strauss" - a reference to Leo Strauss, philosopher of obscurantist strands of absolutist thought, mentor and inspiration to some neocons who believe they fulfil his teaching by acting as tutors to politicians in need of their superior guidance.

'Informed" is hardly the precise word to account for the manipulation of Bush's impulses by cultish advisers with ulterior motives.

Even as the neocons revelled in their influence, Bush's glittering generalities, lofted on wings of hypocrisy, crashed to earth. Would we launch campaigns against tyrannical governments in Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or China?

[cthrumatrix]

3. as usual.... the truth only appears in the non-us media

[jmcgowanjm]

4. "It was a God-drenched speech"

Former Ronald Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan wrote
in Friday's Wall Street Journal that the speech was
"startling," "over the top" and "left me with a bad
feeling."

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/25/1458234

This, from Noonan, no Communist she!

MATT ROTHSCHILD: Well, there are a lot. Here is one.
Bush talked about the -- this was probably the creepiest
section in the whole speech -- the untamed fire of
freedom, where Bush was almost rubbing his hands
together when he said, “This untamed fire will burn those
who fight its progress.” That's pretty lurid, isn't it? Anyway,
he talked about the untamed fire of freedom in a passage
that included the phrase, "hope kindles hope." And this echoes
a couple passages in Jeremiah. “I will kindle an
unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem.” Or, “I will kindle
a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around
her.”

It's becoming clear that some kind of
Reichstag/911 is in the works.
To do what these Fascist Throwbacks want
to do, it will take the full mobilization of the US
to a wartime rationing/ everyone's in the Military
Footing.

[jmcgowanjm]

6. touch (ing) the brutal facts on the ground

neither the president's soaring rhetoric nor the new secretary
of state's fantasy numbers touch the brutal facts on the
ground.

The only reason we learned of the Ar Rutbah
Ch53 Crash

Local witnesses told Markarat al-Islam that they hoped the
Arab and Islamic news media would come and take pictures
of the extent of the losses, which are what the local
Resistance inflicts on the Americans every day. They said
that the Americans were forced to announce the downing of
this helicopter – something they seldom do –
because numerous delegations of people from Baghdad
and other provinces were scheduled to arrive in ar-
Rutbah Wednesday and some of them were bound to have
seen the crash or heard about it.

a local amateur photographer managed to take a video of
the wreckage of the helicopter and hid it in his shoe
when passing through one of the checkpoints thrown up
by
the Americans around the crash zone. The amateur
cameraman pledged to gave the film to the Mafkarat al-
Islam correspondent so still pictures from it can be shown
on the website as soon as the cassette arrives in the
editorial office. The photographer told the correspondent, “If
I knew that a satellite TVstation would broadcast it, I would
have given it to them, but unfortunately there’s nobody else
here that I can give the cassette
to.”

IRR 012605

[enough]

5. Dem. Representative Ellen Tauscher has some strong words.

Anybody know anything about her?

snip>

"I don't know where these troops are coming from. It's mystifying," Representative Ellen Tauscher, a ranking Democrat on the House armed services committee, told me. "There's no policy to deal with the fact we have a military in extremis."

snip>

The administration has no strategy for Iraq or for the coerced American army plodding endlessly across the desert.

Representative Tauscher wonders when the House armed services committee, along with the rest of the Congress, will learn anything from the Bush administration that might be considered factual: "They are never persuaded by the facts. Nobody can tell you what their plan is and they don't feel the need to have one."

more>

[Rockholm]

7. But the "librul media" won't report this.

It is obvious that they are tired, stretched too thin and ARE DYING. What do we get almost on a daily basis instead? Human interest stories and personal stories of individual troops and their sacrifices on the nightly news. Sorry, but this propoganda is really turning me off. Hey, we all support the troops. I want them home and this "war" over. Hey MEDIA, show the coffins coming home. That is the story.
Did that helicopter crash due to weather or was it shot down? We will never REALLY know the truth, will we? As Jack Nicolson said in "(Can't remember the name of the movie)"..YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

[Solly Mack]

8. Conversation last night with a fellow military spouse

Whose husband may be going back in the next several weeks. She was telling me the lastest from "back home."

A group of medics are leaving within the next 2 days. This is their 2nd deployment in less than 6 months. The number has been reducing daily, however, as more and more are finding ways to stave off deployment:



One soldier filed for divorce, which will keep him from being deployed until the divorce is resolved. The catch is, he's also getting custody of the children. This means he MUST have a care plan. Without one, he can be chaptered out of the army. The divorce is just how far they are willing to go to gain his exit from the army. Yes, we know that's why they are doing it.

Another 2 are now on suicide watch and can't deploy. They threatened to harm themselves or others if anyone made them go back. Pending psych evals.

2 were caught shoplifting at the PX. They can't go because they are now under criminal charges. They said "We rather be in jail than back in Iraq for those elections"...they also said they'll steal bigger items if that's what it takes.

... and these are medics...desparate not to go back. Afraid of the elections and what they will bring.

[MadisonProgressive]

9. This Pollyanna army

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1399444,00.html

Bush will not admit that his troops are too exhausted to sustain his vengeful global missions

Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday January 27, 2005
The Guardian

The most penetrating critique of the realism informing President Bush's second inaugural address, a trumpet call of imperial ambition, was made one month before it was delivered, by Lt Gen James Helmly, chief of the US Army Reserve.
In an internal memorandum, he described "the Army Reserve's inability under current policies, procedures and practices ... to meet mission requirements associated with Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. The Army Reserve is additionally in grave danger of being unable to meet other operational requirements and is rapidly degenerating into a broken force".

These "dysfunctional" policies are producing a crisis "more acute and hurtful", as the Reserve's ability to mobilise troops is "eroding daily".

The US force in Iraq of about 150,000 troops is composed of a "volunteer" army that came into being with the end of military conscription during the Vietnam war. More than 40% are National Guard and Reserves, most having completed second tours of duty and being sent out again.

[Ian David]

10. Hey, if he keeps pissing-off the troops, say hello to President Powell

[NNN0LHI]

11. One thing is for sure

If they keep joining up Chimpy will keep sending them to their deaths. Thats the way it works.

Don