Air Force Association to Rumsfeld "The First Law of Holes"

[jody]

This prestigious military association editorial gives Rumsfeld a very polite reprimand.

"The First Law of Holes"

QUOTE
It will come as a shock to stressed out US troops to learn there's no shortage of manpower in the armed forces. According to defense officials, we have enough people in uniform; the problem is that many are in the wrong jobs. What we really need, they say, is personnel reform, outsourcing, and a reshuffling of forces.

That view has been pressed for years by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, who recently claimed anew he is not convinced of a need for more troops to meet growing commitments. He said it would be "the easy way out" to just say, "Fine, let's increase end strength." He told Time, "We do have adequate forces."

This message is not convincing to the Air Force Association, which twice addressed the issue at its recent National Convention in Washington, D.C. AFA's 2004 Statement of Policy says, "Force structure should be sized to match the requirements." Its companion Top Issues paper flatly declared, "It is time to increase Air Force end strength to meet actual requirements."
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One can only assume that Rumsfeld plans to keep doing what he has been doing. Someone should remind him of what has often been referred to as The First Law of Holes: When you find yourself in one, stop digging.
UNQUOTE

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

1. "outsourcing" the military?

I don't know about this specific case, but I do know that when jobs are "outsourced" it always seems to be for one of two reasons: either to pay the workers less money and get out of paying benefits, or to provide profits for some private company.

Considering what Bush has been doing to our soldiers, we should be giving them massive pay raises and better benefits.

Outsourcing military jobs would not only harm our national security, but it would cost more. If you keep everything inside the military, you don't have to give a cut to the investors (profits).

[Eloriel]

6. W4e've been outsourcing military "jobs" for years and years now

Dyncorp, Halliburton (I think), Wackenhutt. Pinkerton??? Probably others. Surely you knew this.

Eloriel

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

12. Sure

I know it's common, even systemic. I was under the impression that Rumsfeld is trying to speed up the process, and to outsource new categories of jobs. I would oppose it in general.

[thebigidea]

2. Rummy to AF: "Will more people be killed? You bet!"

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

3. "Am I giving the terrorists ideas they otherwise wouldn't have?"

"You're damned right!"

(Thank you Al Franken, for allowing us to laugh through this tragedy)

[BeFree]

4. The Air Force

Don't see too many Air Force members on the ground in Iraq, now do we? Nope, the USAF is above such manuevers. They fly high above us all, dropping their care packages -- 500 pound bombs, Laser guided missiles.

God forbid that they have a few less pilots sitting around the ready room waiting, just waiting, like they did that fatefull day of 9/11.

What is needed, unfortunately, is police in Iraq. Unfortunate because none of our soldiers should be there in the first damn place. The Air force needs to sell a few of the high-priced jets and move those funds into police work. Cause that's where this country is headed -- policing the world. Ya' can't police the world from 35,000 feet.... all ya can do is make life miserable for those on the ground. Shock and Awe, and all that sheeit.

Personally, I'd like to see one or two branches of the Mililtary eliminated. Grounding the Air Force would be a good start.

[Catch22Dem]

5. I'm an Air Force vet

As several others on this board are. If you're somehow blaming the AF for 9/11, or suggesting the Air Force serves no purpose, I'd like to hear how you think Kosovo should have been handled. I'd also like to hear how selling our assets to pay for police in Iraq RATHER than bringing the UN in is a viable option.

Don't blame the Air Force for *'s fuck-up!

[WilliamPitt]

7. I was hoping a pilot would weigh in on that one

[BeFree]

9. Thank you for risking your lives

For the US.

Yeah... The Air Force serves a purpose. While it may have worked it's charm in Kosovo, all it did in Iraq was blow the living shit outta a bunch of folks lives. Now the ground troops are in to clean up the mess. They should have never been there. The US should have never bombed and invaded Iraq. What can the Air Force do now, in Iraq?

9/11. The Air force did fucking fail to protect the US on that day. Surely you don't disagree, do you? Or do you think they did a dandy job? Sheesh.

Iraq, today, as a military problem, as a US military problem, is a problem that will only be fixed by removal of ALL occupiers, or a flood of occupiers. The UN is backing away from Iraq as fast as it can. There will be no UN takeover any time soon. In my view, the Iraq attack was begun by the Air Force's Shock and Awe. If we had no Air Force, that invasion may have never even begun. Right? If we had a military budget of say, around 100 billion, instead of the gross sum of 400 billion, we probably would have never invaded. That's the key to the problem, right there. We spend 4 times as much as we should.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. As to 911, you're barking up the wrong tree...

...you need to be asking the FAA (agency that controls the airliners) why they delayed notifying NORAD (agency that controls the interceptors) for at least 25-30 minutes that hijackings were taking place. You need to ask yourself "who benefitted" from the delay, and that's where you'll find your real culprit(s). Hint: it wasn't the USAF.

Then you need to ask NORAD why the interceptors were launched from bases geographically distant from the flight paths of the hijacked airliners. Where did those orders originate, and "who benefitted" the most from that decision? Hint: it wasn't the USAF.

Then you need to ask what actually happened to Flight 93. Did it crash as the result of an onboard struggle between the passengers and the hijackers, or was it shot down based on the orders Cheney repeated at least three times on 911? And why was there a debris trail 6 to 8 miles long leading to the final crash site of Flight 93 and why did witnesses on the ground see flames/smoke from the fuselage of Flight 93 before it nosed over and crashed?

Ask yourself how the United States would defend itself from countries that have an air force if we followed your "plan" and got rid of the USAF.

And finally, you need to ask yourself why you're so abysmally unprepared to ask even the most basic questions on this subject, and why you've chosen to insult a former serviceman based on such extremely faulty information.

[BeFree]

15. I'll bark up any damn tree I like, thank you.

The tree I'm barking up is the biggest damn tree ever grown on taxpayer dollars and a tree which has the potential to destroy life as we know it in a split god-damned fucking second. And don't preach to me about what I say and who I say it too.

You know so vey little about what I know, and yet you spew a bunch of malarkey my way. I'll say it again.... The USAF failed to protect America on 9/11. The USAF really do not need excuses made up for them on a discussion board. They friggin failed. We got attacked by air! Right?

Hey, you may want to continue a reckless spending spree on a military budget that the last real president cut back on. You may think that more money means better defense. But just ask some real old timey vets about the money that the military has either lost or misspent. And then get back to us about just what kind of military spending ceiling you'd be happy with.

Sheesh....I can't believe I have to argue about this on this board. Oh well, 87B here, 400B there. It's only money, right?

[jody]

8. I'll assume you are just ignorant of combined military operations.

May you live a long and peaceful life and grow in wisdom each passing day. :hi:

You can further your education by reading the entire editorial and understand that a very important military association has blistered Rumsfeld and indirectly AWOL. That's the real significance of the piece.

[BeFree]

10. Yes, Jody, thank you.

Divide and conquer. I appreciate that. Any division which surfaces is a desirable outcome. But as you should be aware of by now, I want to see the whole 400 billion cut back to a size that is affordable and pointed towards protecting America, not invading the rest of the world. 100 billion outta do it. Anything I can do or say to see that our military is constrained to our borders, that will be my course of action. I saw your piece as a call to action. Thanks. And thanks especially for the

"May you live a long and peaceful life and grow in wisdom each passing day."

That would be a blessing, no doubt. And one which I would hope for all of the Earth's humans. But our military is not conducive to such blessings, now is it?

[jody]

11. Like millions of others, I have seen enough blood shed, some times for

the right goals but to often for the wrong goals. Still, I see no way for our country to survive without a standing military force.

The problem is how do we make the People understand that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are immoral?

Active duty troops have no choice but to obey "lawful orders" and orders to fight in Iraq are lawful. The ultimate responsibility for every death in Iraq whether ours or theirs lies on every US citizen that does not protest the immoral abuse by AWOL of the authority given him by the People's representatives.

[Catch22Dem]

13. Agreed