U.S. ready to deploy 10,000 guard troops

[radfringe]

U.S. ready to deploy 10,000 guard troops
5,000 others on alert for future service
Sep. 27, 2003. 01:00 AM
JIM KRANE
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON—The U.S. military, faced with reluctance by other nations to send forces to Iraq, last night activated 10,000 Army National Guard troops to go there and put 5,000 more Army Guard soldiers on alert for likely service in Iraq.

The mobilization order for the 30th Infantry Brigade from North Carolina and the 39th Infantry Brigade from Arkansas, each with 5,000 troops, to mobilize over the next two weeks had been expected. They were earlier alerted for replacement rotation into Iraq, where the U.S. now has about 130,000 troops.

The army also announced last night it was alerting the 81st National Guard Brigade from Washington state, also with 5,000 troops, to be prepared for a likely call to active duty in Iraq.

----------
ummm...just asking: thought we didn't need more troops? Meanwhile, what happened to all those flowers being thrown?

[Mari333]

1. More cannon fodder for the Neocons

More dead soldiers, more wounded soldiers for Halliburton and Bechtel profits.

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

[jamesinca]

2. Once again the administration will say things are going well

Once again they will say "Mission Accomplished" I mean Mission Continues.

[leetrisck]

3. "We do not need more troops in Iraqa"

that's what the Administration said about 2 weeks ago.

[Sick of Bullshit]

7. This "adults-in-charge" mi$admini$tration

changes its collective mind with the rising and setting sun.

[Barrett808]

22. Rumsfeld says no need for more troops in Iraq: 21 August 2003

Thursday August 21, 4:27 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Wednesday he saw no need to send more troops to Iraq, despite the U.N. headquarters bombing, which analysts cited as the latest example of the U.S. failure to create order in the country.

...

"And, at the moment, the conclusion of the responsible military officials is that the force levels are where they should be," said Reichsmarshall Rumsfeld.

(more)

http://in.news.yahoo.com/030820/137/272tj.html

[izzie]

4. Question?????

What states are they from? Do any come from the solid GOP South.

[leetrisck]

6. Arkansas, I believe N.C

and 5,000 on alert from Washington State

[havocmom]

5. "....what happened to all those flowers being thrown?"

Anybody here old enough to sing along with me?

"...
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls picked them, everyone.
When we will ever learn?..."

[saigon68]

11. I remember this song well. it was popular as a folk song CA: 1961-1962

Then the shit hit the fan.

Evil men in corporations exploited the poor and lower middle clases for their corporate ends.

The public "forgot" the message until 58,000 young men and women were killed in an unjust war.

READ BELOW

"They never saw what napalm does to a little girls skin. They never saw a 19-year-old from Iowa screaming and writhing on the ground because a mine blew his legs off. They never saw a man take a bullet through the brain, then watch his body flop around on the ground for a minute or so because it doesn't realize he's dead. They never put pieces of someone into a bag, not knowing who it was until you read the tags, because there wasn't any face left to go along with the other parts. They haven't seen the shit I've seen, and they want to do it all over again. Those bastards!"

As told to Al Hambridge by an anonymous man at the Viet-Nam Memorial-- Mar 2003

[tlcandie]

12. Flowers are being thrown ....

on the graves when they get back home :(

[AP]

8. I heard Paul Krugman say that there's a rule of thumb in the military:...

out of 33 brigades, the military can only afford to have 1/3rd engaged at any one time.

He said, right now, there are 2 in Afghanistan and 16 (or 14?) in Iraq. He said that there are only 3 more right now that are really ready to go anywhere.

He said that this raises two issues. He says he's not sure what election-padding mischief Bush could get America into before next November (Iran, Syria aren't possible -- he said that we could perhaps re-invade Grenada). He also said that it's incredibly expensive to run a military, and what we're doing now isn't helping the defecit, and if we needed a bigger millitary, it would be extremely difficult to pay for it.
 

[Jack Rabbit]

10. All very true

Bush, acting like a spoiled brat from a wealthy family, didn't budget for his own priorities. For him, money grows on trees and is always available to satisfy his wants.

It doesn't work that way. Borrow-and-spend Republicanism doesn't work any better now than did the policies of some tax-and-spend Democrats in the past. Bush can't cut taxes for his cronies and expect to have money left over for his PNAC wars.

He'll have to choose or the American people will choose for him. My guess is that it will be the latter.

[AP]

15. Bush knows what he's doing: drowing the Fed gov't in a bathtub

spending all the money, forcing America into making impossible decisions (of course we're going to tax the hell out of the middle class for national security), etc. etc.

[Jack Rabbit]

9. I'll bump this since my dupe was just locked

Comment made in the body of the locked thread:

Calling up reserves was the bridge LBJ would not cross in Vietnam. When General Westmoreland attempted to requisition more troops after the Tet Offensive in 1968, Johnson announced his retirement and began his peace initiative.

[saigon68]

13. The draft is coming soon !!!!

Then we will have to choose what to do. Draft resistence or counselling is going to get a lot of people INCARATED due to the PATRIOT ACT.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST (yes I'm pissed off)

[AP]

16. They don't need the draft. They're impoverishing so many blacks, latinos,

and rural whites, they'll have an endless supply of people with no other options. Oh, they're also dangling citizenship in front of Mexican faces if they'll serve in the military.

If we had a fair draft, the middle class would feel like they had something at stake in American foreign policy and they'd vote out all the Republicans.

[saigon68]

18. NOT SO READ THIS

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2120588

Brian Moody signs up more soldiers for the Army National Guard

Until he met Jeff Fayette's mom.

"I came out of that house, and the dad had not said anything, and the mom said: `The people at work tell me you're trained to lie to me. My son is not fighting for anybody in Iraq. He's going to stay right here and he's gonna be my baby,' " Moody said. "That's the kind of feeling we're up against now. I tell you, it's real easy to get depressed

[Jack Rabbit]

21. Your evidence is anecdotal

However, it shouldn't be ignored. If there were a survey showing that poor people were going to refuse enlistment or other military service out of fear of serving in the PNAC wars, you would have a stronger case. Perhaps someone should do such a survey.

[Jack Rabbit]

20. Ture, that's a good argument to bring back the draft

I'm saying we should bring back the draft, but if we do, it should be a more fair draft than we had during the Vietnam era. Dodges for wealthy families like student deferments and cushy National Guard assignments should not be part of any new draft.

You're right, that probably won't happen. Right now, the "economic draft" serves the purposes of the neocons very nicely. Unfortunately, if we did bring back the draft, out present misleaders will no doubt want to leave in place the same loopholes of which they took advantage years ago so that a new generation of wealthlty, undemocratic chickenhawks can send more poor people to fight wars for corporate profits twenty or thirty years from now.

[markses]

14. If you look at the actual documents

One of the reasons that they refused to call up the reserves and send an additional 205,000 after Tet was that the head honchos felt we may need those troops "at home," if you catch the meaning....

They weren't worried about a Cuban invasion, in any case.

[bluedog]

17. Florida Troops

As to Date:
Air Force Reserve: 91

Air National Guard: 480

Army National Guard: 3,350

Army Reserve: 379

Naval Reserve: 170



Florida National Guard about 7.800 are eligible to be called.......

The mood here is NOT a matter of IF....But When.....

[bobthedrummer]

19. The men and women in the WA. Reserve better get packing.

and then some draft motion.