Krugman: Admin threw out the rulebook

[babylonsister]

Happy Memorial Day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/30/opinion/30krugman.html?

//snip

Let me put that in plainer English: our all-volunteer military is based on an implicit promise that those who serve their country in times of danger will also be able to get on with their lives. Full-time soldiers expect to spend enough time at home base to keep their marriages alive and see their children growing up. Reservists expect to be called up infrequently enough, and for short enough tours of duty, that they can hold on to their civilian jobs.

To keep that promise, the Army has learned that it needs to follow certain rules, such as not deploying more than a third of the full-time forces overseas except during emergencies. The budget office analysis was based on those rules.

But the Bush administration, which was ready neither to look for a way out of Iraq nor to admit that staying there would require a much bigger army, simply threw out the rulebook. Regular soldiers are spending a lot more than a third of their time overseas, and many reservists are finding their civilian lives destroyed by repeated, long-term call-ups. //snip

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/30/opinion/30krugman.html?

[jazzjunkysue]

1. Great article, as usual. Amen.

[LuPeRcALiO]

2. who cares, people are a disposable commodity

Let them eat napalm. And if the families start making noises hint around that it was suicide.

[Flying Dream Blues]

3. Great article...must read. Kick

[gratuitous]

4. I've said for years

Military personnel are nothing more than pieces on a Risk board for this corrupt administration. Rotations? R 'n' R? Supply lines? What's that? Logistical support? Communications? Who cares? They're just pieces on a big map, and you keep rolling hoping for lots of 6's to break down your opponent. Win a little territory and draw a card.

[babylonsister]

5. .

[annabanana]

6. kick. . . . .

more, louder,