60 Minutes II: Soldiers complaining about Stop-Loss

[Wonk]

on now

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. Commie Whiners...

They must hate America.:eyes:

[Bluebear]

3. They hate us for our freedom.

Meanwhile they are being drafter retroctively.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

4. Move to France, ya Bastids!

Heh heh. ;)

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. WOW

This is good... and... unprecedented...

Bush is really forcing amazing things

[rumguy]

5. Isn't this program on Thursday nights?

[rocktivity]

6. Rumsfeld MISCALULATED the number of soliders?

He was told exactly how many soliders would be needed--a minimum of 250,000. He knew he couldn't get that many without a draft, so he ignored them!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Hoping4Change]

7. I remember 20 year old Guards interviewed at the start of the

war and they were shocked about going to war They had all signed up for college or whatever. My heart goes out to them.

[lanparty]

8. Who will win the military vote this time around ????

My guess is that Kerry will run away with it. The troops were betrayed by Bush, and I think they're starting to realize it!!!!!

Meanwhile, private contracters pulling guard duty at the airport are making 100,000 a year!!! Drivers are making even more and it's the military guys that have to guard them and take the bullets.

[LittleApple81]

9. That vote is on machines. It will be made to be for Bush*. n/t

[Cush]

10. I think the Pentagon scrapped E Voting

[LittleApple81]

11. Great. Why? I think you are right... I seem to remember but I don't

remember the reasons...

[lanparty]

13. They said it was unreliable

And I'm sure it came as quite a blow to the Bush admin.

Something tells me that a LOT of high level brass had to rebel against Rumsfeld in order for that to happen. You know darn well that Bush would have fixed the vote if they were voting via "internet".

[DinahMoeHum]

15. These soldiers' families won't vote for * either. . .

unless they're total assholes.

:nuke:

[Wonk]

12. Transcript, mp3 & video here for those who missed it

26 M vp3 video

2 M mp3

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/16/60minutes/main623492.shtml

[lanparty]

14. Nice blurb

60 Minutes took the sergeant’s complaints straight to the top, to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Pete Schoomaker.

“I’m disappointed he feels that way because I think that somebody that did 20 years in the Army ought to be able to recognize that there’s a greater good than the individual,” says Schoomaker, who issued the latest rounds of Stop Loss orders. “I wish we didn’t have a situation that required us to have this level of sacrifice, but we do.”

Stop Loss may be a good deal for the Army, but is it fair for the soldiers who were planning to get out?

“Well, these are extraordinary times. I don’t find soldiers calling it a raw deal,” says Schoomaker. “Now, I’m not saying there’s not exceptions out there, that it’s a raw deal. But this is difficult on all of us. I mean, all of us are giving up a lot to do this, but it’s important to do.”

I find it interesting that Schoomaker is quick to point out that the Sargeant is so "short sighted". The fact is that Schoomaker can resign any time he likes. He asks others to make a sacrifice. But he asks no sacrifice of himself. Another typical warhawk!!!!!

[fob]

17. Does the 13th Amendment forbid Stop Loss?

Amendment XIII

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.


Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


Doesn't Stop Loss = Involuntary Servitude?

[lanparty]

18. Another blurb

A worse deal, Schoomaker says, would be to repeat the mistake of Vietnam. Units in the thick of battle were in constant turnover, with combat veterans going home one by one as soon as their enlistments expired, while inexperienced soldiers trickled in to take their place.



So what he's saying is that soldiers don't come in with a bunch of greenhorns surrounding them. They enter a group of experienced soldiers who know the terrain. The morale of soldiers remained somewhat acceptable because they all knew if they did their year, they would go home.

Troops in Iraq have no such consolation. In fact, the preference toward keeping entire units in the field will tend to keep them there for extended deployments since rotating them out means bringing in an entire unit of greehorns that do NOT know the terrain.

Don't be fooled by these BS explanations. They KNOW that rotating troops in is a better methodology since it minimizes disruptions and keeps experienced people in the field. They're advocating this methodology because it allows them to hold soldiers captive in the combat theatre for indefinite amounts of time.

Effectively, they're treating this as if it's WWII. Well, Iraq isn't WWII. It isn't so mega battle against a foe that threatened to take over the world. And THEY know it!!!!!

[Cheswick2.0]

16. obviously those damn soldier don't support the troops

Every last one of their liberal asses should get a real job.