OMFG !!! - Destroying the National Guard

[WillyT]

<snip>

The unit knew it would soon be shipped to the front. Some soldiers responded by deserting. Others got drunk and fought. In response, officers locked the unit in its barracks, allowing the troops out only to drill, not even to smoke a cigarette, until it could be put on the transport that would take it into combat.

It sounds as if I am describing some third echelon Soviet infantry regiment in, say, 1942. In fact, I am talking about the 1st Battalion of the 178th Field Artillery Regiment, South Carolina National Guard, in September 2004. According to a front-page story in the Sept. 19 Washington Post, the unit was disintegrating even before it was deployed to Iraq. One shudders to think what will happen once it gets there and finds itself under daily attack from skilled enemies it cannot identify.

And...

Yes, the Guard was mobilized and deployed overseas in both World Wars, but those were true national wars, in which the American people were all involved one way or another. Cabinet wars, as they used to be called, are something altogether different. As Frederick the Great said, cabinet wars must be waged in such a manner that the people do not know they are going on. But National Guardsmen are the people. To send them into a cabinet war is to misuse them in a way that will destroy them. Even in the American Revolution, militiamen were seldom asked to fight outside their own state. When they were, they usually responded by deserting.

And...

For many Guardsmen, deployment to Iraq means economic ruin. They have mortgage payments, car payments, credit card debt, all calculated on their civilian salaries. Suddenly, for a year or more, their pay drops to that of a private. The families they leave behind face the loss of everything they have. What militia wouldn't desert in that situation?

<snip>

Link: http://www.antiwar.com/lind/?articleid=3651

Link to WaPo Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31689-2004Sep18.html

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!!!

:nuke:

[WillyT]

1. And From The WaPo Story...

<snip>

This Guard unit was put on an accelerated training schedule -- giving the soldiers about 36 hours of leave over the past two months -- because the Army needs to get fresh troops to Iraq, and there are not enough active-duty or "regular" troops to go around. Preparation has been especially intense because the Army is short-handed on military police units, so these artillerymen are being quickly re-trained to provide desperately needed security for convoys. And to fully man the unit, scores of soldiers were pulled in from different Guard outfits, some voluntarily, some on orders.

<snip>

Link above.

:grr:

[antigone382]

2. God, it's so sad

When will the sheeple open up their eyes?

What's more, all of this points to one thing looming on the horizon: the draft. And we all know the only way to stop that.

[WLKjr]

9. When MP's come to thier house

to haul thier asses off to fight. Then we will see a yellow streak run up thier backsides.

[Carla in Ca]

3. We are a train wreck

and only Senator Kerry has his hand on the brake. It stops Nov. 3rd.

I also read today that for the FIRST time ever, the Pentagon will be collecting all the soldier's ballots. Rumsfeld has promised that all will be sent to the appropriate states.
What is going on here?

[RebelYell]

4. A promise from Rumsfeld

is like, "the check's in the mail."

[NinetySix]

6. LINK, please!

I'd really like to read that article. That's about damn sinister.

[Carla in Ca]

7. It was a comment on another site

I will find it...very important.

[BrotherBuzz]

8. Here's a start

Rumsfeld is directly responsible for all overseas votes, as appointed by Shrub under something called the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=835525

[Carla in Ca]

10. I just finished reading all 64 posts

and quite a few also asked for a link to her assertions but she never did post again. My fault, sorry. I should get a link to prove these comments.
I googled it and this is as close as I get
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/31/opinion/31tues1.html?ex=1096430400&en=e61dc321bf881a88&ei=5070>

[Mr_Spock]

5. Terrible huh? Yeah, this story was popular on LBN last week.

I even repeated it to people I talk to daily - it's really a sign of the times and when people openly go AWOL and cause problems - you know the amount of discontent underneath it all is very high. This whole episode was just so poorly conceived by AWOL coward in the WH - it's almost like he's making up for his failures as a youth at the expense of these young kids (and the nation as a whole). What a waste of money and lives - what a disaster.

[Zorra]

11. The bottom line: Bu$h and the neocons want to destroy America....

that's it...what else is there to say?

I would hope this would be obvious to any sane person by now.

[WillyT]

12. Kick !!!

:kick:

[Redleg]

13. Things are fucked up when Redlegs get used as convoy guards

and as foot-patrols. Not that we artillerymen aren't up to humping a ruck and patrolling when needed.