Conservative? Uncle Sam Needs You To Put Your Life Where Your Mouth Is!
The news is full of reports that the Bush Administration is about to attack Iran over their nuclear program. But one has to ask the question - attack with what army?
Frequent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the Army and National Guard to the breaking point, and 270,000 Guard soldiers - 60 percent of the force - have already hit their limit for overseas combat. But never fear, such ‘quaint’ limitations on the Federal usage of State militias won’t be observed - at least not before the midterm election in November.
In the meantime, the Army valiantly struggles to meet the demands placed upon it by a government which never itself experienced war first-hand.
Even though only two or three combat brigades in the entire Army - perhaps 7,000 to 10,000 troops - are fully trained and sufficiently equipped to respond quickly to crises (including responding to hurricanes and other natural disasters and deploying to Korea if conflict broke out there), and others are only about half strength, under-trained, and unequiped, they soldier on.
There is a lot of talk out of those who support the Wars For Oil, but no walk. Luckily for the Bush Administration, there are those who are attempting to ease the manpower shortages facing our military by challenging Bush supporters to join the war they have to date expected others to fight:
It’s their war. Why aren’t they fighting it? posted by Karl, Operation Yellow Elephant September 24, 2006
“The war against this enemy is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century and the calling of our generation.” These are the words of President Bush on Sept. 11, five years after the attacks. If baby boomers doubt that this present war is the calling of their generation, the children of the boomers - at least the rising leaders among them - have little doubt that it is theirs.Conservative columnist Linda Chavez wants “More Boots on the Ground” in Iraq, and the Washington Times printed it Sept. 15.
“It’s not enough to move a finite number of American troops around from one hot spot to another. What we need is more boots on the ground. If we had twice the number of troops when we first entered Iraq, we might not be fighting there today.”
There is a way that war supporters can ensure that Chavez’ desire for an increase in occupation forces can be realized:
Recruiting year FY-2007 begins next Sunday and our Army must enlist an additional 80,000 new soldiers. Our Army has no incentive to, and therefore will not, exceed the current recruiting quota by more than a handful. We sincerely doubt that the final number will exceed 81,000; it will likely be less than 80,500. As of today, military recruiters should start early on next year’s quota by saving current prospects for October.If you are an American citizen 18-41 and support the war, if you haven’t visited your local Armed Forces Recruiting Center to volunteer for military service, then you’re a Yellow Elephant.
If you won’t encourage real conservative American patriots to volunteer for military service to put “More Boots on the Ground,” you’re just blowing smoke.
There are Yellow Elephants emitting voluminous pollution in very public places:
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) (August 2005): “No, I have not urged my own children to enlist. I don’t know the status of my childrens’ potentially enlisting in the Guard and Reserve,” Romney said, his voice tinged with anger.Massachusetts residents can enlist in the National Guard up to age 39 (now 41). Romney’s five sons range in age from 24 to 35. Neither the Romney children nor the governor have served in the military, Romney spokeswoman Julie Teer said.
One soldier, whose enlistment would have expired except for the invocation of stop-loss, wrote to Operation Yellow Elephant to encourage conservative war supporters to enlist:
Jeremiah Abershawe- Hey there, just finished up my second tour in Iraq. It is my last. The Army, because of manning issues, was forced to stop-loss me. The majority of my platoon was stop-lossed. We are due to leave the Army within the next 90 days. Will you be the one to take up the arms we lay down?
This experienced fighter knows better than to expect the mouths of the right to rise to the defense of their government’s anti-terror, pro-oil-control strategy. They aren’t brave enough:
LOL! I think not. Stay at home with mommy and daddy where it’s safe and your bank account is kept full!
There are other good reasons to stay home, kiddies - your mother wouldn’t like it if you got killed in the War for Oil - and your leader isn’t going to really care:
For Bush, War Anguish Expressed Privately By Peter Baker, Washington Post Staff Writer September 25, 2006
They sat on two frayed chairs in a teacher’s lounge, the president and the widow, just the two of them so close that their knees were almost touching. She was talking about her husband, the soldier who died in a far-off war zone. Tears rolled down her face as she mentioned two children left fatherless.She told him she considers him responsible for her husband’s death and begged him to bring home the troops. “It’s time to put our pride behind us and stop the bleeding, for all of us,” she recalled saying.
The president demurred, unwilling to debate a mourning woman. “We see things differently,” he said.
Halley said the meeting did not change either of their minds. She would still vote against him.
There is every reason to vote against the Republicans in November - they support a man who shouldn’t be conducting a war:
Bush has served as a wartime president longer than any occupant of the White House since Lyndon B. Johnson. He has presided over more U.S. military casualties than any since Richard M. Nixon. [T]he wars in Afghanistan and Iraq … have killed more than 3,000 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of civilians.His public persona gives little sense that he dwells on the costs of war. He does not seem to agonize as Johnson did, or even as his father, George H.W. Bush, did before the Persian Gulf War. His son never served in combat and gives no public indication that he anguishes like his father. His refusal to attend military funerals, while taking long Texas vacations and extended bicycle rides, strikes some critics as callous indifference.
Johnson was tormented by the Vietnam War, padding down to his war room in slippers and robe at night to check on casualty numbers. Taped telephone calls, published by historian Michael Beschloss, reveal the depth of anguish. “I want to be called every time somebody dies,” Johnson declared.
George H.W. Bush wrote an angst-ridden letter to his children before the Gulf War: “I guess what I want you to know as a father is this: Every Human life is precious. When the question is asked ‘How many lives are you willing to sacrifice’ — it tears at my heart. The answer, of course, is none — none at all.” He did not sleep well before the bombing began and prayed that an Iraqi child shown on television would not be hit. “There’s no way to describe the pressure,” he said in a diary entry, later published in a volume of personal correspondence. “I’ve been plagued with the image of body bags.” Warren Finch, director of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, said the former president’s service as a pilot shot down over the Pacific shaped his outlook. “The fact that he had served in World War II and lost two crewmen meant he experienced it firsthand. That weighed heavily on him.”
Losses of any kind don’t register with those who aren’t directly involved themselves - yet another reason to encourage those who want war but won’t fight it themselves to enlist.
It’s their war, or they wouldn’t support it. They should be the ones to fight it. It’s the patriotic thing to do.
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