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Return to Article: Army strained to near its breaking point

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  I lost partial support of the war when Bush decided that he had to change every law he could get his hands on to benefit his office. Patriot Act, Real ID, Military Commission Act, and others.

  Really lost support when I learned that Halliburton was getting loads of no-bid contracts. The intel that Bush used to justify was so distorted as to not even be true along with no WMD found. The torture camp with its mock judicial system in Guantonimo, illegal wiretaps, corrupted hiring of attorneys, prisoner hand offs to third party countries for information extraction, slapping a gag order on whistle blower Sibel Edmonds, and on and on.

  This president has done nothing but strip our country of civil liberties and generate a false fear to press his agenda that is clearly more than just a war on terror. I used to be a hardcore Republican but I wouldn't follow this President to a hotdog stand.

  Wacer Posted June 7, 2007 6:11 PM
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  The country isn't sold on this "war" because we're not as stupid as we look: everyone in the world, and most of the people in this country, are well aware that from the beginning the "war on terror" has been not a war but a gigantic long-planned bonanza for the Carlyle Group, Halliburton, Blackwater, and Big Oil - this is not a war, sir it's a handout, and the military is being sold out along with the rest of the country. Spare me your indignation over the poor military. The first response of the generals should have been to say hell no to Bush and Cheney and the rest of their administration: traitors and war profiteers who have broken the whole country, not just the military, and done damage that will not be repaired for years - if ever. I'll take the military's plight seriously when you guys stop buying what Bush and Cheney are selling and do your duty to your men and to the country. The leadership that put you in this position is the problem, not the country's lack of enthusiasm for their "war".

  GovExec.com reader Posted April 14, 2007 3:22 AM
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  Anonymous,

  Yes, Congress should start impeachment proceedings against Bush. That would keep Congress so busy they could not do more harm to this county. And as most things Congress does, it wouldn't actually accomplish anything as by the time the photo shoots were over, we'd have elected a new president anyway. Hopefully the people will wake up and kick the party of NO back to the curb, along with their Republican cohorts. RE-elect NOBODY!!

  And I am not a Republican, nor Democrat, but a true independent, I vote the person and issues, (and unfortunately most times the lesser of evils) -- I don't vote the label. I am the politicians worse nightmare, I actually do critical thinking and don't just take their word for it. As the cliché goes, "if you trust the government, go talk to the Indians."

  Ted Posted April 11, 2007 8:33 AM
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  Patrick Yemoc: the author was referring to the U.S. participation in WWII. Counting the time before the U.S. entered WWII after Pearl Harbor would be irrelevant as it is combat that causes wear & tear on the military. Therefore, insofar as the U.S. is concerned, Operation Iraqi Freedom (if they still even call the mission that?) has lasted longer than WWII.

  DSR

  David Posted April 9, 2007 12:32 PM
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  The various topics discussed in this article have been talked about by both active duty and retired service members for several years now. I find it significant that the author quotes several senior leaders and also blames several senior leaders for the present problems. My question becomes - where was this news reporting when it was needed in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006? I think that the news media and Congress, as well as the senior military leaders, failed to sound the alarm at the appropriate time.

  Larry R. Doane Posted April 9, 2007 8:32 AM
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  The TRADOC was established in 1973, along with FORSCOM, out of the Contintental Army Command - CONARC. This split (Operation STEADFAST) was effected because the CONARC commander in the early 70s, GEN Ralph Haines, felt that his span of control - encompassing both individual training and unit readiness - was too broad. It was not for the reasons cited in the article.

  GEN William DuPuy and TRADOC may have endorsed the National and Joint Readiness Training Centers, but FORSCOM created them to provide the most realistic training possible. The training was not intended as "final exams before going overseas."

  (I worked on STEADFAST and later the creation of the National Training and Joint Readiness Training Centers as a staff officer here at HQ FORSCOM.)

  Shelton Jones Posted April 9, 2007 8:06 AM
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  I don't know where you got your information, but the following statement is not true: "Created to focus on the Army's future, TRADOC today has had to shorten its horizon and narrow its priorities to the immediate mission of helping the all-volunteer Army through its first extended war -- Iraq -- which has now lasted longer than World War II."

  The war in Iraq has been just more than four years while WWII lasted from 1939 to 1945 (six years). Simple misstatements like this (you should have said, "longer than U.S. forces fought in World War II") cause a reader who is paying attention to lose focus on what is beign said.

  Patrick Yemoc Posted April 9, 2007 4:20 AM
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  Sad to see a proud service crippled by this dishonest, incompetent president. In spite of pleas from Generals to not use solders as props, all his interst in solders seems to be in there use as photo props. Even in CA this week, he flew to Los Angeles to raise more money from what he brags is "his base, the have mores" and droped by a base for a 5 minute photo shoot. Support the Troops. Impeach Bush.

  GovExec.com reader Posted April 6, 2007 4:24 PM