Retired Generals: Bush is ‘Breaking the Army’

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/12/471/

Retired Generals: Bush is ‘Breaking the Army’
by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush’s ongoing “surge” of some 35,000 troops to add to the 140,000 already deployed in Iraq is highlighting growing concern, particularly among the military brass, that the U.S. army is overstretched and fast becoming “broken”.An increasing number of senior retired officers, some of whom had previously expressed optimism that the active-duty force of some 500,000 soldiers could handle U.S. commitments in the “global war on terror”, now say the current situation today reminds them of 1980, when the service’s top officer, Gen. Edward Meyer, publicly declared that the country had a “hollow Army”.

“The active army is about broken,” former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who also served as chairman of the Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush 15 years ago, told Time magazine this week, while another highly decorated retired general who just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan described the situation in even more dire terms.

“The truth is, the U.S. Army is in serious trouble and any recovery will be years in the making and, as a result, the country is in a position of strategic peril,” ret. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, former head of the U.S. Southern Command, told the National Journal, elaborating on a much-cited memo he had written for his colleagues at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

“My bottom line is that the Army is unraveling, and if we don’t expend significant national energy to reverse that trend, sometime in the next two years we will break the Army just like we did during Vietnam,” he added.

In an indication of the growing concern, both Time and the more elite-oriented Journal ran cover stories this week. They both concluded that the Army was rapidly approaching or had already reached “the breaking point”.

“Pressed by the demands of two wars, plus mandates to expand, reorganise, and modernise, the Army is nearing its breaking point,” according to the Journal, which also ran a companion article on how much the service has been forced to lower its mental, physical and moral standards to meet recruitment targets.

more...

[BOSSHOG]

1. Yeah, but what do they know

They are only four star generals with more then 30 years of experience managing and leading Soldiers and the accompanying supplies and armament and strategy. Hell, dubya was a first lieutenant who didn't want to take a drug test. And he has conservative values. So those Generals should just stop hating America.

"The country is in stragetic peril." You ain't gonna find that in the Clinton Library by gawd.

[Hubert Flottz]

16. And Gawd is telling Bush what to do.

I'd love to see those allmighty emails too.

[partylessinOhio]

2. Don't blame * for breaking the army. It's Imus 24/7.

There is no time for looking at reality.

America is down, going down further and you will not stop it. Get with the program: dance with the stars and idolize Sanjaya.

[babylonsister]

3. You're right; the media are dimson's enablers. nt

[partylessinOhio]

8. It's strange how the bombings in Iraq flew off the radar:

Bombing at Iraqi parliament kills 8
By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers


A suicide bomber slipped through the tightest security net in Baghdad and blew himself up in the midst of lawmakers having lunch in the parliament dining hall Thursday. U.S. officials said eight people, including parliament members, were killed in the deadliest-ever attack in the American-guarded Green Zone.

The stunning breach of security, on the same day that a massive bombing destroyed one of Baghdad's main bridges, laid a cloud of heavy doubt about progress in the latest U.S.-Iraqi bid to clamp off violence in the capital. The drive has put thousands of troops on the streets in a massive operation to round up militants and their weapons.

A news video camera captured the moment of the blast, about 2:30 p.m. — a flash and an orange ball of fire causing Jalaluddin al-Saghir, a startled parliament member who was being interviewed, to duck. Smoke and dust billowed through the area, and confused and frightened lawmakers and others could be heard screaming for help and to find colleagues. ...
Three miles north and seven hours earlier, a bombing sent a major bridge linking east and west Baghdad plunging into the Tigris River. Several cars plummeted into the murky, brown water, and at least 10 people were known to have died. Many more were believed missing.

Police blamed a suicide truck bomber for the attack on the al-Sarafiya bridge, which the British built in the 1950s. AP Television News video, however, showed the bridge broken in two places — perhaps the result of two blasts. ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AmvT9znpTjXGIDpkDdZ29fKs0NUE

[babylonsister]

9. That's 'cause we're not supposed to hear any bad news, doncha know.

The media make good soldiers, too.

[malaise]

4. Bush is a bull in a China shop

Everything he touches is broken. I M P E A C H!

[KittyWampus]

5. Powell is just a disgruntled employee

[lovuian]

6. Bush is not an American he has been out to destroy

Everything that makes america wonderful
its military
Justice
Elections
Agriculture
Technology
Science
Forests
Middle class
Everything that makes america strong

He is a traitor

[Ghost in the Machine]

7. off to the greatest!!

this should be front page news everywhere!

[rasputin1952]

10. None of these Gen's want to be the "War Czar" either...

No one wants to hitch to this bumbling disaster known as bush.

If we weren't in danger as the military goes down the tubes, it would be comical. With a good portion of our militar involved overseas, the nation is in a precarious position concerning national defense. Naturally, it never dawned on these assholes that this wouold happen, they could not see past their own smoke and mirrors or dreams of military glory...:(

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. George Bush: The man who broke the military.

And a country.

Damn, he'll be remembered in infamy.

[Nay]

12. Well, where was Colin Powell when we actually needed him? Like

in that fakey-ass demonstration HE produced about how we had to go to war? If he gave a shit about this country, he would have stood up in front of all those cameras, live, and told the TRUTH -- that it was all a bunch of bullshit, and war was the wrong thing to do. But no, his fucking RETIREMENT was more important to him than anything else. So TO HELL with Colin Powell. The coward.

[babylonsister]

13. I share your disgust, but this isn't really about him. It's about a vote

of 'no confidence' for *.

[Nay]

14. Oh, I know. Still, it just fills me with disgust and loathing to hear Powell

especially go on and on about how horrible it is, when he contributed directly to the mess we are in today. And to know that he has been paid 20 times as well as any of us serfs out here, and WE'RE the ones who are supposed to stand up and strike and whatnot to get rid of the asshole=in=chief, but the well-paid guys, they gotta collect their pensions before they blow the whistle. It just makes me fume.

[bigtree]

15. great article

thanks for posting, babylonsister!