Current time most dangerous in 40 years, says U.S. military chief

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=351428

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told noncommissioned officers Tuesday this is the most dangerous period he has seen in his more than 40 years in uniform.
snip...

Mullen also addressed President Bush’s decision to reduce Army deployments from 15 months to 12. “That’s a big deal,” he said. “(My) view was that 15 months was just too long.”

In addition, the admiral said, the military must work to build dwell time, the amount of time at home station between deployments. “I believe we’re not home enough right now,” he said.
more...
Its pretty bad when the US Military Chief admits these long deployments are not good

[DJ13]

1. most dangerous in 40 years

Unless you count the two prior election years, 2004 and 2006, the last times this was said.

[Longtooth]

4. Well, I guess you have a point there.

The "danger" seems to get ramped up every election cycle doesn't it?

[Eurobabe]

2. Thanks to Clinton and her annihilate Iran comment

She's no better than Bush. Bring it ON!

[lovuian]

3. He knows US military troops are just so unhappy

and just overworked...

Morale is the lowest in 40 years thats what he is saying

[Longtooth]

5. Yeah but we've been through moral low spots before.

The real problem is that our military Tech has not kept up with other evolving Tech. We have some serious weak spots. It can be fixed of course but it takes commitment to do it.

[provis99]

6. more dangerous than when Reagan was threatening us with Nuclear armageddon?

I find that hard to believe. Things are a little crappy now, but at least we're not threatened with immediate worldwide nuclear holocaust like we were under Captain Ray-gun.

[Longtooth]

10. Actually the closest we EVER came to "the big one" was

the Cuban missile crises. THAT was a close one.

[MiniMe]

7. Interesting, he was at the Atlantic Council today

along with Kissinger, Gates, Colin Powell, and Paulson. Powell was there later than the others, except for Kissinger.

[Elwood P Dowd]

8. It will be much worse when October arrives.

A few thousand al Qaeda will suddenly be more powerful and dangerous than the Axis powers of World War II and the Soviet Union from the 1970s combined. Only a republican can save us from certain death.

[JDPriestly]

9. An era of persistent conflict, so we must retain and capitalize on battle-hardened force

Is Admiral Mullen predicting (or even hoping for) unending conflict? Does he share McCain's view that we might be in Iraq (or at least at war somewhere) for many, many more years? Are they wishing for this perpetual war just so they maintain the "battle-hardened force"? This is really scary. It seems that peace is no longer a part of our government's vocabulary.

I quote:

The world has entered an era of persistent conflict, he said, and NCOs must be ready to confront and lead change. NCO experiences will be important to the force of the future.

“This is the most battle-hardened force we have ever had,” and retaining and capitalizing on that experience will be essential to the armed services’ future, he said.

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