Bush Before He Was Elected Said These Things...

   More on the Bush ramblings about supporting our troops in Iraq.

"The facts are stark and the facts are real. . . Our men and women in uniform love their country more than their comfort. They have never failed us, and we must not fail them. But the best intentions and the highest morale are undermined by back-to-back deployments, poor pay, shortages of spare parts and equipment, and rapidly declining readiness."

". . .these are signs of a military in decline and we must do something about it. The reasons are clear. Lack of equipment and material. Undermaning of units. Overdeployment. Not enough time for family. Soldiers who are on food stamps, and soldiers who are poorly housed. Dick Cheney and I have a simple message today for our men and women in uniform, their parents, their loved ones, their supporters: Help is on the way!"

                    —George W. Bush VFW Speech - August 21,2000

   But wait! There's more!  From the same speech above.

As commander-in-chief I will give our military a clear sense of mission.  America will be involved in the world.  But that doesn�t mean our military is the answer to every difficult foreign policy situation.

 When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming.

These lessons of our history must never be forgotten. The lesson of freedom must never be tarnished

   Compare this speech while he was running for president in 2000, with his actions since gaining office.  Need I say more?

 

Tags: George Bush VFW U.S. military Veterans V.A.

Bush And His Troop Support Bullshit

   As noted in my previous posting, Bush is flapping his face about the Iraq war funding hurting our troops and showing a lack of support for them and maybe having to deploy them longer because of the funding cuts. We all know that is bullshit!

"The president is vetoing the bill to provide money for soldiers -- readiness, health care, armaments, etc and a timeline to get out of Iraq."

     More on the cost of escalation and this isn't about just the price of this crappy war.

WASHINGTON - For just the second time since the war began, the Army is sending large units back to Iraq without giving them at least a year at home, defense officials said Monday. The move signaled how stretched the U.S. fighting force has become.

A combat brigade from New York and a Texas headquarters unit will return to Iraq this summer in order to maintain through August the military buildup President Bush announced earlier this year. Overall, the Pentagon announced, 7,000 troops will be going to Iraq in the coming months as part of the effort to keep 20 brigades in the country to help bolster the Baghdad security plan. A brigade is roughly 3,000 soldiers.

The Army will try not to shorten the troops' U.S. time, "but in this case we had to," said a senior Army official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "Obviously right now the Army is stretched," the official said.

   In the mean time, Bush and his " yes sir " generals still can't plan the war. This is with four years of planning! How much practice do you need?

Defense officials and military leaders disagreed last week over how long it will take to determine if the latest buildup — which added five brigades to what had been a fairly consistent level of 15 brigades in Iraq — is working.

Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the military's chief spokesman in Iraq, said commanders won't know until at least autumn when they can begin to bring troop levels back down. A day later Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a congressional committee that he was disturbed to hear that comment, and he said commanders should be able to make the evaluation by summer.

Bush is sending sick and injured troops back to Iraq, and now he's sending troops that haven't received requisite leave. This is no more supporting the troops than is vetoing the funding bill that Congress has presented him. The damage to the nation's armed forces and ultimately to national security, will likely be felt for decades to come. It's long past time for Congress to step in and end this debacle.    Daily Kos

 

Tags: Bush escalation troop support Congress Iraq