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Banned
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Ustwo, I'm not coming off as a snarky POS in my posts, because I sincerely attempt to provide REAL content in my posts....substance...kinda like what dc_dux tries to do. What do you try to do here....incessantly?
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Originally Posted by Ustwo
You cooked the meal, I sent it back to the kitchen, deal with it.....
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Not to worry, dc_dux....watching these loyal Americans attempt to defend and obfuscate the indefensible and the unavoidable, is what it is, a spectacle.
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Originally Posted by reconmike
Please Host, Jimma Carter WAS the worst ever, look at how bad he fucked up this country, not to mention our standing in the world.
But hey he did pardon all those draft dodging felons.
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Torture, war crimes, deliberate violation of the Geneva conventions....the senate signed those Geneva treaties to protect your fellow Marines....deliberate destruction of white house records....years of internal communications among the entire executive branch.
You post about what Carter did to our "standing in the world"....when did you ever show any concern for our standing in the world? What do you think world opinion is of the Bush administration, of the American people for permitting their continued ability to stink up the place? The rest of the world is voting on US standing:
The US dollar: Against the Euro....last 24 months:
<img src="http://ichart.finance.yahoo.com/2y?usdeur=x">
Dollar since Bush TOOK office:
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/US/M
The US Military:
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http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...PXDiAD8VUMQDG2
Army Under Stress From Long Wars
By PAULINE JELINEK 1 day ago
WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. soldiers are committing suicide at record levels, young officers are abandoning their military careers, and the heavy use of forces in Iraq has made it harder for the military to fight conflicts that could arise elsewhere.
<h3>Unprecedented strains on the nation's all-volunteer military are threatening the health and readiness of the troops.</h3>
While the spotlight Wednesday was on congressional hearings with the U.S. ambassador and commanding general for Iraq, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody was in another hearing room explaining how troops and their families are being taxed by long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the prospect of future years of conflict in the global war on terror.
"That marathon has become an enduring relay and our soldiers continue to run and at the double time," Cody said. "Does this exhaust the body and mind of those in the race, and those who are ever present on the sidelines, cheering their every step? Yes. Has it broken the will of the soldier? No."
And it's not just the people that are facing strains.
Military depots have been working in high gear to repair or rebuild hundreds of thousands of pieces of equipment from radios to vehicles to weapons that are being overused and worn out in harsh battlefield conditions. The Defense Department has asked for $46.5 billion in this year's war budget to repair and replace equipment damaged or destroyed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Both the Army and Marine Corps have been forced to take equipment from non-deployed units and from pre-positioned stocks to meet needs of those in combat meaning troops at home can't train on the equipment.
National Guard units have only an average of 61 percent of the equipment needed to be ready for disasters or attacks on the U.S., Missouri Democrat Ike Skelton lamented at Wednesday's hearing of the House Armed Services Committee.
Cody and his Marine counterpart, Gen. Robert Magnus, told the committee they're not sure their forces could handle a new conflict if one came along.
The Pentagon and Congress have worked in recent years to increase funding, bolster support programs for families, improve care for soldiers and Marines and increase the size of both forces to reduce the strain. Cody said the U.S. must continue the investment, continue to support its armed forces and have an "open and honest discussion" about the size of military that is needed for today's demands.
An annual Pentagon report this year found there was a significant risk that the U.S. military could not quickly and fully respond to another outbreak elsewhere in the world. The classified risk assessment concluded that long battlefield tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with persistent terrorist activity and other threats, are to blame.
The review grades the armed services' ability to meet the demands of the nation's military strategy which would include fighting the current wars as well any potential outbreaks in places such as North Korea, Iran, Lebanon or China.
Similarly, a 400-page January report by the independent Commission on the National Guard and Reserves found the force isn't ready for a catastrophic chemical, biological or nuclear attack on this country, and National Guard forces don't have the equipment or training they need for the job.
Strain on individuals has been repeatedly documented.
It contributes to the difficulty in getting other Americans to join the volunteer military. The Army struggles to find enough recruits each year and to keep career soldiers.
Thousands more troops each year struggle with mental health problems because of the combat they've seen. The lengthening of duty tours to 15 months from 12 a year ago also has been blamed for problems as has the fact that soldiers are being sent back for two, three or more times.
President Bush will announce on Thursday that the length of tours will go back to 12 months for Army units heading to war after Aug. 1, defense officials said Wednesday.
Some 27 percent of soldiers on their third or fourth combat tours suffered anxiety, depression, post-combat stress and other problems, according to an Army survey released last month. That compared with 12 percent among those on their first tour.
In Afghanistan a range of mental health problems increased, and 11.4 percent of those surveyed reported suffering from depression.
Medical professionals themselves are burning out and said in the survey that they need more help to treat the troops. The report also recommended longer home time between deployments and more focused suicide-prevention training. It said civilian psychologists and other behavioral health professionals should be sent to the warfront to augment the uniformed corps.
Though separate data reported on divorce rates appeared to be holding steady last year, soldiers say they are having more problem with their marriages due to the long and repeated separations.
As many as 121 troops committed suicide in 2007, an increase of some 20 percent over 2006, according to preliminary figures released in January.
If all are confirmed that would be more than double the 52 reported in 2001, before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks prompted the Bush administration to launch the war in Afghanistan.
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More of what you stand up for, reconmike...a toast to these wonderful, all suffering leaders....hip, hip, hooray !!!
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ABC News: 4000 Dead in Iraq; VP: They Volunteered
<h3>"The president carries the biggest burden, obviously," Cheney said.</h3> "He's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, ...
abcnews.go.com/WN/Politics/story?id=4513250
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Quote:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...070510-12.html
QUESTION: You are portrayed by your opponents and some in the media as this sinister figure, as this cold-blooded warmonger who doesnt care about the number of body bags going back. I know you read the casualty reports every day. I know you and Mrs. Cheney visit wounded troops privately. And I saw you in Iraq with troops in Iraq. But how do you feel about the cost of this war in blood and treasure four years later? And I guess the question most Americans have is how much is enough.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, obviously, any casualty is to be regretted. Nobody likes to be in the position where they have to make those kinds of decisions. <h3>Obviously, the President bears the major part of the burden....</h3>
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Quote:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...042501330.html
No One Suffers More Than the President'
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, April 25, 2007; 1:00 PM
<h3>First Lady Laura Bush said this morning that "no one suffers more" than the president</h3> and she do when watching television footage of the carnage in Iraq -- potentially opening her up to charges that the first family is too removed from the anguish of American troops and their families.
The first lady was on NBC's Today show mostly to talk about the president's malaria initiative, but at one point Ann Curry showed some video from Iraq and asked Bush, in a hushed, solicitous tone: "You know the American people are suffering, watching --"
The first lady replied: "Oh, I know that, very much. And believe me, no one suffers more than their president and I do when we watch this. And certainly the commander in chief who has asked our military to go into harm's way --"
Curry: "What do you think the American public need to know about your husband --"
Laura Bush: "Well, I hope they do know the burden of worry that's on his shoulders every single day, for our troops. And I think they do. I mean I think if they don't, they're not seeing what the real responsibilities of our president are."...
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Compare what a REAL president said about the deaths of the American soldiers his orders sent into battle:
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....But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. ...
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Last edited by host; 04-11-2008 at 04:56 PM..
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