The Pentagon has reneged on its offer to pay a $15,000 bonus...

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5258954p-4774126c.html

When a bonus isn’t a bonus, Murray fires

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has reneged on its offer to pay a $15,000 bonus to members of the National Guard and Army Reserve who agree to extend their enlistments by six years, according to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Seattle).

The bonuses were offered in January to Active Guard and Reserve and military technician soldiers who were serving overseas. In April, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs ordered the bonuses stopped, Murray said.

“This is outrageous,” the senator said in a telephone interview. “It makes me angry that this administration has broken another promise to our troops.”

A Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, confirmed the bonuses had been canceled, saying they violated Pentagon policies because they duplicated other programs. She said Guard and Reserve members would be eligible for other bonuses.

Krenke said some soldiers had been paid the re-enlistment bonuses, but she was unsure how many or whether the money would have to be repaid. Murray’s office said that as far as it knew, no active Guard or Reserve members had received the bonuses.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Oh.. what a surprise

[Aimah]

4. Wow they "really support" the troops.

[natrat]

2. with all the money they are imbezling in iraq...

fuck the military
support the troops bring them home
put the leadership on trial
fucking torturers

[oasis]

3. The bloated Defense Dept. budget has no money for armor and promised

bonuses. What next?

[Gronk Groks]

5. Yea, Republicans support the troops, sure...

...and cows can jump over the moon.:sarcasm:

Every time the mis-administration says something you should always assume the opposite: war is peace, up is down, etc.

I am surprised that the military hasn't started to have major trouble with desertion. Or maybe they are and just not letting on.

[Ilsa]

6. Broken contract? Can't those troops just go home now? eom

[librechik]

7. Pentagon can break the contract, but if the enlistee tries to get out

they go to jail.

How fair is that?

[Canuckistanian]

8. How does giving more money to troops "violate policies"?

They should be lavishing money on the soldiers, not Bechtel, Halliburton or Blackwater.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. Meanwhile how much is our government paying for private security in Iraq?

I'm talking about the $100,000 plus annual commissions being earned by mercenaries like those from Blackwater.