Are We ALL Paying Attention Here?
A contentious issue arose during last year’s presidential election, and an accusation was made by many Democrats, including Kerry himself, that a reinstituted draft was on it’s way from a Bush White House. Lo, and behold, we were right. Sen. Joe Biden brought it up today.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will "have to face" a painful dilemma on restoring the military draft as rising casualties result in persistent shortfalls in US Army recruitment, a top US senator warned.
Joseph Biden, the top Democrat of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the prediction after new data released by the Pentagon showed the US Army failing to meet its recruitment targets for four straight months.
"We're going to have to face that question," Biden said on NBC's "Meet the Press" television show when asked if it was realistic to expect restoration of the draft.
"The truth of the matter is, it is going to become a subject, if, in fact, there's a 40 percent shortfall in recruitment. It's just a reality," he said.
The comment came after the Department of Defense announced Friday the army had missed its recruiting goal for May by 1,661 recruits, or 25 percent. Similar losses have been reported by army officials every month since February.
But experts said even that figure was misleading because the army has quietly lowered its May recruitment target from 8,050 to 6,700 people.
That has prompted charges that the real shortfall was closer to 40 percent, which in turn has led to questions about the future viability of the army as a force, if it continues to be plagued by lack of new recruits.
Since October, the army has recruited more than 8,000 fewer people that it had hoped to, which amounts to a loss of about a modern brigade.
The Army, Navy and Marine Corps reserves also fell short of their monthly goals by 18 percent, six percent and 12 percent respectively, according to the figures.
Recruitment at the Army National Guard was down 29 percent while the Air National Guard fell short 22 percent.
The United States abandoned the military draft in 1973, following mass protest during the Vietnam War, and switched to an all-volunteer force.
Mandatory registration for the draft was suspended in 1975 but resumed in 1980 after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. About 13.5 million men are currently registered with the US government as potential draftees.
During the 2004 election campaign, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry repeatedly accused President George W. Bush of planning to re-instate "a back-door draft," charges the president vehemently denied.
But while admitting that restoring the draft would be politically "very difficult," Senator Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat of the Senate Judiciary Committee said something will have to be done because the situation with recruitment was not likely to improve.
"If you think you have trouble getting recruits today, you're going to have far more trouble six months from now," Leahy predicted on CBS's "Face the Nation" program. "It is not going to get better. That's going to get worse."
Republican Representative Curt Weldon called the recruitment shortfalls "troublesome" and "unacceptable."
But he urged the military "to find ways to fix the current system" and to attract more recruits with the help of new incentives.
Nearly 1,900 US troops have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere since the beginning of the war on terror in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
We kept repeating it, and repeating it, and no one wanted to listen. The White House isn’t considering a draft. Congress is. Notably, the Democrats like Biden, Kerry, and Rangel, have been bringing up the subject. They screamed and fussed that a Republican president was going to begin drafting young men into service. Nevermind that it was FDR who instituted a draft for World War II (Which I don’t fault him for; it was necessary), and Johnson for Vietnam. Now, they’re trying to force the president’s hand on this.
And, of course, there’s good ol’ Pat Leahy painting a rosy picture for everyone. Way to go, Senator; that’s the way to maintain friends and influence people.
If there’s a draft that is reinstated, it’ll be through those in Congress. The president isn’t in favor of it, and I’m sure he’ll stand beside that. The losses in life and manpower aren’t as bad as the doom-and-gloom naysayers keep hyping. We’re maintaining our forces and our positions in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and we have definitely had an effect on the terrorists; they aren’t directly targeting us anymore. They’re targeting civilians; a clear sign of desperation on the part of the enemy.
This is as preposterous an idea as Graham’s and Schumer’s ideas that the president needs to consult the Senate before nominating an appointee. Doesn’t work that way guys, and this nutty draft idea won’t work your way either. Here’s a better idea for the Senators: Quit constraining our fighting forces, and let them win this war.
I figured by now they’d have recognized they were responsible for any failures in Vietnam. Politicians can’t run a war. That’s what senior officers in the military are for. Senators, let them do it, and you end this debate once and for all.
Publius II
A contentious issue arose during last year’s presidential election, and an accusation was made by many Democrats, including Kerry himself, that a reinstituted draft was on it’s way from a Bush White House. Lo, and behold, we were right. Sen. Joe Biden brought it up today.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will "have to face" a painful dilemma on restoring the military draft as rising casualties result in persistent shortfalls in US Army recruitment, a top US senator warned.
Joseph Biden, the top Democrat of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the prediction after new data released by the Pentagon showed the US Army failing to meet its recruitment targets for four straight months.
"We're going to have to face that question," Biden said on NBC's "Meet the Press" television show when asked if it was realistic to expect restoration of the draft.
"The truth of the matter is, it is going to become a subject, if, in fact, there's a 40 percent shortfall in recruitment. It's just a reality," he said.
The comment came after the Department of Defense announced Friday the army had missed its recruiting goal for May by 1,661 recruits, or 25 percent. Similar losses have been reported by army officials every month since February.
But experts said even that figure was misleading because the army has quietly lowered its May recruitment target from 8,050 to 6,700 people.
That has prompted charges that the real shortfall was closer to 40 percent, which in turn has led to questions about the future viability of the army as a force, if it continues to be plagued by lack of new recruits.
Since October, the army has recruited more than 8,000 fewer people that it had hoped to, which amounts to a loss of about a modern brigade.
The Army, Navy and Marine Corps reserves also fell short of their monthly goals by 18 percent, six percent and 12 percent respectively, according to the figures.
Recruitment at the Army National Guard was down 29 percent while the Air National Guard fell short 22 percent.
The United States abandoned the military draft in 1973, following mass protest during the Vietnam War, and switched to an all-volunteer force.
Mandatory registration for the draft was suspended in 1975 but resumed in 1980 after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. About 13.5 million men are currently registered with the US government as potential draftees.
During the 2004 election campaign, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry repeatedly accused President George W. Bush of planning to re-instate "a back-door draft," charges the president vehemently denied.
But while admitting that restoring the draft would be politically "very difficult," Senator Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat of the Senate Judiciary Committee said something will have to be done because the situation with recruitment was not likely to improve.
"If you think you have trouble getting recruits today, you're going to have far more trouble six months from now," Leahy predicted on CBS's "Face the Nation" program. "It is not going to get better. That's going to get worse."
Republican Representative Curt Weldon called the recruitment shortfalls "troublesome" and "unacceptable."
But he urged the military "to find ways to fix the current system" and to attract more recruits with the help of new incentives.
Nearly 1,900 US troops have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere since the beginning of the war on terror in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
We kept repeating it, and repeating it, and no one wanted to listen. The White House isn’t considering a draft. Congress is. Notably, the Democrats like Biden, Kerry, and Rangel, have been bringing up the subject. They screamed and fussed that a Republican president was going to begin drafting young men into service. Nevermind that it was FDR who instituted a draft for World War II (Which I don’t fault him for; it was necessary), and Johnson for Vietnam. Now, they’re trying to force the president’s hand on this.
And, of course, there’s good ol’ Pat Leahy painting a rosy picture for everyone. Way to go, Senator; that’s the way to maintain friends and influence people.
If there’s a draft that is reinstated, it’ll be through those in Congress. The president isn’t in favor of it, and I’m sure he’ll stand beside that. The losses in life and manpower aren’t as bad as the doom-and-gloom naysayers keep hyping. We’re maintaining our forces and our positions in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and we have definitely had an effect on the terrorists; they aren’t directly targeting us anymore. They’re targeting civilians; a clear sign of desperation on the part of the enemy.
This is as preposterous an idea as Graham’s and Schumer’s ideas that the president needs to consult the Senate before nominating an appointee. Doesn’t work that way guys, and this nutty draft idea won’t work your way either. Here’s a better idea for the Senators: Quit constraining our fighting forces, and let them win this war.
I figured by now they’d have recognized they were responsible for any failures in Vietnam. Politicians can’t run a war. That’s what senior officers in the military are for. Senators, let them do it, and you end this debate once and for all.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 6:23 PM
2 Comments:
I don't believe anything that leaky leahy says or do I believe anything plagiarizer biden says or the racist rangel. They lack credibility. Their opinions are therefore void. Rawriter
Raw,
Despite their irrelevance, the still deal with legislation. If I were Pres. Bush, I would watch my back, and all the bills crosing my desk one what they say.
These people are not ot be trusted, and it would not surprise me if they tried to sneak such an idea in on legislation that the president promises to sign.
Marcie
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