Op/Ed: Republicans and Military Morale (100,000+ American POW's)

[Mugsy]

From "Mugsy's Rap Sheet":

"We have seen a steady erosion of American power, and an unsteady exercise of American influence. Our military is low on parts, pay and morale. If called on by the Commander-in-Chief today, two entire divisions of the Army would have to report “Not ready for duty, Sir”.” - George W. Bush in his 2000 RNC acceptance speech

On Thursday, Secretary of Defense Gates announced that, in order to sustain President Bush’s “surge”, the tours of duty of all troops currently serving in Iraq have been extended an additional three months. Soldiers and their families responded to this latest stop-loss measure with “anger and frustration”. Now six+ years on, no longer can supporters of this administration blame Bill Clinton for the current state of our military or suggest “Republican leadership” is more beneficial to military readiness than with Democrats in charge. That myth has now been laid to rest.

When former covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson testified before Congress, she stated she never imagined she would be outed by her own government. Likewise, for those who believe there are currently no American military POW’s in Iraq, need to realize that today there is close to 100,000 American military POW’s currently being held against their will due to “stop loss” and extended tours of duty by their own government.

(...)

An astounding 27% of all U.S. troops serving or served in President Bush’s “War on Terror” have served more than one tour of duty (each tour = one year). I even heard on the news last week that several of the troops involved in this “Surge” would be on their FIFTH tour of duty! That’s beyond obscene.

“Even the highest morale is eventually undermined by back-to-back deployments. Something has to give and it’s giving. Resources are overstretched. Frustration is up, as families are separated and strained. Morale is down. Recruitment is more difficult. And many of our best people in the military are headed for civilian life.” - Presidential candidate George W. Bush, September 1999, criticizing Bill Clinton for overextending the military in deployments to places such as Bosnia and Kosovo.

(more)

More on "Mugsy's Rap Sheet"

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. 100,000 POWs

via "stop loss". A good way of describing the procedure.

[Mugsy]

2. Don't try suicide.

Is it any wonder that so many troops have committed suicide, seeing it as their only way out? (13.5 per 100K - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/14/iraq/main593160.shtml)