The US Military is rebelling against Bush

[lovuian]

The diminished dividends of war
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - With the US intelligence community agreed that the invasion and occupation of Iraq have made the United States less safe from terrorist threats, President George W Bush appears to be facing a growing revolt among top military commanders who say their ground forces are stretched close to breaking point.

According to Monday's Los Angeles Times, the US Army's top officer, General Peter Schoomaker, has called for a nearly 50% increase in spending, to nearly US$140 billion, in 2008 to cope
with the situation in Iraq and maintain minimal readiness for emergencies.

To convey his seriousness, Schoomaker reportedly withheld the army's scheduled budget request last month in what the Times called an "unprecedented ... protest" against previous rejections by the White House of funding increases.

And this week, several retired senior military leaders told Senate Democrats that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should go, arguing that he had mishandled the war in Iraq. The former soldiers claimed that Rumsfeld had ignored advice for more troops, failed to make a post-invasion plan or equip troops properly, and hid information from the public.

The news of Schoomaker's action, which is almost certain to intensify the debate over what to do in Iraq just seven weeks before the November 7 mid-term congressional elections, comes just days after the New York Times reported that the army was considering activating substantially more National Guard troops or reservists.
snip...
The US Army, which has some 500,000 active-duty soldiers, has been allocated $98 billion this year, and the White House has cleared it to receive $114 billion for 2008. But Schoomaker has reportedly asked for $139 billion, including at least $13 billion to repair equipment. "There's no sense in us submitting a budget that we can't execute, a broken budget," he warned recently in a speech in Washington.

In addition to strains on both the land forces and their equipment, senior military leaders are also worried about attrition among mid-ranking officers, in particular, and the quality and cost of new recruits.
more...

[Erika]

1. Military meltdown here

The Republicans are totally incapable of governing. When not criminal, they're inept.

[speedoo]

2. Link, please?

I'd like to read the rest, and also know where it's coming from.

It's about time the active generals started telling these incompetents to fuck off. Let Gen. Schoomaker be the first!!

[Shakespeare]

4. This was on cable news yesterday.

I don't know where this particular story is from, but it really happened.

[maddezmom]

5. here is a link

http://atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HI27Aa01.html

[speedoo]

7. Thanks. That is a must-read article.

Much, much more there. This is a huge problem for * and his idiots.

[maddezmom]

15. you're very welcome

:hi:

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. If they had a coup I'm not sure I would put up a fuss at this point.

I'm already feeling like I live in a third world third rate country.

[muesa]

8. It's practically a coup

1. The career Judge Advocates General are fighting Bush on terrorist interrogation and detention.

2. The senior general officers are bailing in war time.

3. The O-3/4/5 and E-6/7/8 are bailing.

Remember the old slogan "What if they gave a war and nobody came?"

[rman]

17. It would be a counter-coup with overwhelming popular support

It'd be rather a different kind of coup than Repubs usually have.

[Strawman]

30. Rank and file disobedience, ok. But a coup would almost never be good

I'd much prefer the Democrats simply winning elections.

If a president refused to transfer power or something like that, maybe then to simply remove that person and assist in the constitutional transfer, but I think people are either just talking out of their asses or being extermely short sighted when they say they'd actually welcome a coup to get rid of Bush, as shitty as he is. It's a harmless fantasy cuz it will never happen, but still.

If some "patriotic good guys" break that taboo this time they'd make it easier for Curtis LeMay types to pull it off next time. Civilian control of the military is an important democratic norm.

[cascadiance]

31. Folks you should watch "Seven Days in May"...

It is an old sixties film about the reverse problem that we have today. A president who's peace loving, but perhaps not viewed as "effective" to the public, who's being pressured by a popular general (Burt Lancaster) in the political space. Kirk Douglas plays another officer who is an aide to the president who learns of a coup attempt by Burt Lancaster along with a conspiracy of others with him. He, like Smedley Butler is forced to look past his own military credentials to help shut down this attempt on taking over the U.S. government.

Now, we might think with the reverse equation, where we have a president that's looking for autocratic power, that we might actually *want* what they stopped in that film, but the problem is that we are going from one leader that we have a lot of problems "trusting" (even though he's constantly saying that we just should trust him) to another that we'll need to "trust" to put things back into place once he's broken them out of their fractured state. The whole point of our constitution is that we have the checks and balances that should make it so that we don't have to "trust" anyone to feel confident that such "checks" actions won't wind up to be a power grab. There are some people I might trust more than others to do the right thing in the military, though I don't know any of them personally, but in principle, I think it's the wrong thing to do unless we're really desperate. We could have another Burt Lancaster character today that we'll be "trusting" who in actuality has another agenda we might not like any more than what Bush is engaging in now.

[opihimoimoi]

6. The Military Vortex gains the BIG MO...more and more $$$ into the Vortex

of NO RETURN......

We are going into debt at the astounding rate of nearly a TRILLION a year...When Bush leaves office, the National DEBT will be in the range of 11 to 12 TRILLION DOLLARS...

THE GOP HAVE FOOLED AMERICA into thinking they stand for FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY...THEY HAVE LIED TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE....

The results reads like a bad scorecard.....WE ARE GOING BACKWARDS under the GOP....WTF???

[ninkasi]

9. Dear Opi

It was never about fiscal responsibility..all along, it has been about making sure that gays and lesbians couldn't have equal rights, and huge tax cuts for the elite. Between the monied interests, and the religious right, this is what it has come to.

Somehow, some way, we must take control of at least one branch of Congress, either the House of Representatives, or the Senate, and if we are lucky, both. When that happens, I will try to beg, borrow, and...well, not steal, I'm not a Republican, but beg and borrow the money to come to the huge party you will be hosting on the beach.

Come, we go prepare, and welcome all with good food, good wine, and good music. I will bring chocolate and roses. Just bring your big heart, Opi.

[opihimoimoi]

13. Aloha Ninkasi, Looks like we have a good chance to take over sumthing

this Nov elections...hopefully the House and the Senate. I believe the tide is indeed turning. Even as I type, Pelosi is going ballistic on the House floor attacking the Pubs. Hilliary has broken her silence re events pre 9/11. KO did a number on Bush on Monday. and of course...Big Dog kicked Chris's ass all over the map.

All this portends something Positive...might be the September suprize by the DEMs....kinda pre emp the Pubs with Truth and Sanity...throw them buggers off guard.

Yes, by all means, we prepare for big party on the beach. Opi gathering fixin's and musicians......

Come, we go pound the Pubs until they look like POI. LOL, :smile: :toast:

[Cobalt-60]

10. They have certainly de stabilized the planet

When the rich don't think they're getting richer fast enough, they sow catastrophe that they might profit from it.
They've done it well. Their munitions plants will be humming for years to come no matter what we do.
If we continue to deal with them.
We know well enough who the profiteers are. They agitated and manipulated for the war. Then they insisted that it be conducted in the most indecisive manner that the munition sales go on forever.
We need to pull the plug on them. Someone might be selling a lot of bullets, but it shouldn't be Bushco. Alternate Sourcing, going to or creating other companies to replace the current band of criminals should do the job.

[opihimoimoi]

14. Hold on, Reason and Sanity might be breaking out from prison soon.

If the House goes Blue...Shit gonna fly.

[Porcupine]

11. Bush should stay FAR away from combat veterans.

Soldiers don't appreciate being lied to when they are being sent off to watch their buddies die. They especially don't like it when they are pushed into a losing battle for no damn good reason.

The most hated man in the world should spend the next twenty years in hiding. No Clintonesque-rockstar tours for him. More like the Pinochet retreat from public life.

[Disturbed]

12. The Senate needs to subpena the active Generals and

Colenels put them under oath and grill them hard. They are all afraid to speak up on their own because Bush Inc. will ruin their careers if they tell the truth. The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are fiascos and Bush and Rumsfailed are to blame.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

22. naw, they are carefully screened.

besides, we have, for the most part, dedicated men and women who follow orders. Even if they become vets, it is not in them to act in such a manner.

Now, if the generals made a case that Bush was a domestic enemy, I am sure that they would follow orders again, and boot him out of office.

[w8liftinglady]

16. I'd like to add this letter by Murtha,dated 09/13

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/congress/2006_rpt/060913-murtha-obey_army-readiness.htm

some snippets

The likelihood that many Army combat and support units scheduled to deploy to Iraq in 2007 will have less than the required one year period for rest and re-training. This is one of the key indicators that lead many Army officials to conclude that current deployment rates cannot be sustained without breaking the force.


The Army currently has 39 active-duty combat brigades, as it builds to a total of 42 under the restructuring plan known as “modularity.” Over the coming months, roughly 19.5 combat brigades will be committed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Army doctrine calls for 2 units to be held in reserve (for rest and training) for every unit deployed. As of today, the Army has only one unit in reserve for every unit deployed – a ratio that history shows cannot be sustained for any length of time without serious adverse consequences to the force.

The Army’s ability to meet CS/CSS unit requirements is constrained by the lack of Guard and Reserve soldiers available to meet future missions. Of the 341,000 Army National Guard soldiers in uniform, only roughly 50,000 remain available for mobilization. For the Army Reserve, only about 56,000 of the 190,000 in uniform are available. Thus, Army leaders expressed strong concern about the need to re-examine the Administration’s current policy of not extending the reserve mobilization period beyond two years.

Of the 16 active-duty, non-deployed combat brigades in the United States managed by the Army’s Forces Command, the vast majority of them are rated at the lowest readiness ratings. These ratings are caused by severe equipment shortages.

Funding shortfalls have created backlogs at all of the Army’s key depot maintenance facilities. At Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, some 600 M1 tanks sit in disuse. At Red River Army Depot in Texas, 700 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and over 450 trucks have not been serviced. Roughly 2,600 Humvees are sitting idle at various Army depots. Tens of thousands of small arms, communications sets, and other key items have been similarly backlogged.

It is a disgrace-the condition these neocon hawks have left our military in.This is treason.

[savemefromdumbya]

18. It WOULD be funny if there was a coup!

[me b zola]

19. k&r

[tabasco]

20. Schoomaker can't cover for Rummy anymore.

Schoomaker is a hand-selected yes-man, plucked out of retirement by Rummy. But even Schoomaker the butt-boy is having trouble protecting the neocon cabal from the wrath of the generals. If Schoomaker turns againstRummy it will be amazing to see.

[w8liftinglady]

21. Kicking in light of the extended tour bullshit spun yesterday

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/congress/2006_rpt/060913-murtha-obey_army-readiness.htm

-quote-

Thousands of key Army weapons platforms – such as tanks, Humvees, Bradley Fighting Vehicles – sitting in disuse at Army maintenance depots for lack of funding

Many Army units here at home have been forced to spend much of their time and energy on managing equipment and personnel shortfalls, instead of training or spending time with their families.

Funding Shortfalls: Army officials have testified and reported that the Administration’s FY 2007 defense budget request and the Future Years Defense Plan under consideration by the Pentagon significantly underfunds Army reset, recapitalization, and modernization programs. As a result, Army leaders at the major commands anticipate that FY 2007 will witness similar cash flow and budget management problems that the service experienced in FY 2006.

[dkofos]

23. I still don't see tanks on Penn. Ave

[Blackhatjack]

24. You Will Know "The Rubber Has Met The Road" When ....

...Bush orders imminent attack plans on Iran to be implemented, and the Pentagon Brass make career decisions by saying " NO "

[ComerPerro]

25. What's that line I always hear from RWers, something like

"The military hated Clinton"...


Hmm...


fascinating...

[cascadiance]

26. It's happened before! It WILL happen again!

Check out clips from the new documentary "Sir! No Sir!" which documents military "unrest" during the Vietnam war...

http://www.sirnosir.com/home_filmtrailers.html

[MrCoffee]

27. please please please let it be true!!!

[lebkuchen]

28. Those that are staying on in the military, despite,

are families with expensive medical problems, especially involving children w/special needs, whose medical care isn't affordable outside the base wall. Soldiers in such a situation have endured back to back to back deployments, three years straight away from the family, and have no other feasible financial options than to soldier on for that free medical care. When the kids are old enough to understand, they'll learn that Dad or Mom literally sacrificed his/her life for their children's needs.

It is so sad.

[w8liftinglady]

29. kicking