Words from the trenches

[AwakeAtLast]

I was prompted to post this after reading this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5082161

My husband and his 150 member National Guard unit are currently serving in Iraq. I was relaying some of the finer points of this thread to him in a conversation we had today when he told me, "Hardly any of us are going to reenlist. There may be 30 or so, but they are the true die-hards. Even the guys with 15 years in are getting out." I didn't want to remind him, but just a scant four months ago a lot more of them were the "die-hards".

So let's extrapolate those numbers to the entire army. What is going to happen in the next four years as the military is unable to reclaim the loss of manpower? They are not going to do it through new recruits, they can't even recruit to sustainable levels now.

If what he says comes true, this army is truly broken indeed.

[phantom power]

1. As you say, it's broken. There might be a silver lining.

It will be a lot harder to convince Americans to go to war. In my opinion, that's not such a bad thing. Wars should be extremely hard to start. It should require a lot of convincing to get a country behind going to war. They short-circuited all of that by lying, and exploiting our fear.

[AwakeAtLast]

3. I totally agree.

The ease with which all of this began should have people shaking in their boots, but they are too concerned with what Paris Hilton is wearing. :grr:

[annabanana]

2. thank him for his service, and tell him we wish him a safe

and healthy homecoming - soon.

I have suspected as much for quite awhile. No amount of public relations are going to fool the troops on the ground. B*sh and his cabal have no more respect for s soldier than he does for anyone else whose life he screws over.

He has broken Iraq, he has broken the military, he is making our country broke too.

[AwakeAtLast]

4. Thanks so much!

He should be home next June, unless Hurricane Relief interferes with their replacements' timeline. I am fortunate that he is not in a higher-risk job, but of course the entire country is high risk.

I am waiting for the final kick in the teeth once he is home and we have to deal with cuts in veteran's benefits, because they will be coming.