Webb Stepping Up On Excessive Troop Deployments

[Bob Geiger]

The Defense Department authorization bill (H.R. 1585) will occupy the Senate over the next couple of weeks and, with the exception of the measures that would end American involvement in the Iraq quagmire, no amendment will be more important than the legislation by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) on which debate will begin today. Webb will go to the Senate floor today and introduce a bill requiring that active-duty troops have at least the same amount of time at home as the length of their previous tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is intended to halt the Bush administration's overextending of U.S. troops, the breaking of the country's armed forces and the extraordinary hardships being inflicted on military families.

"Now in the fifth year of ground operations in Iraq, this deck of cards has come crashing down, and it's landing heavily on the backs of soldiers and Marines who have been deployed again and again while the rest of the country sits back and debates Iraq as an intellectual or emotional exercise," Webb said on Monday. "We've reached the point where we can no longer allow the ever-changing nature of this Administration's operational policies to drive the way our troops are being deployed. In fact, the reverse is true. The availability of our troops should be the main determinant of how ground operations should be conducted."

Webb's bill, which also sets a minimum floor for National Guard and Reserve mobilization and deployments, is cosponsored by 19 Senators -- 17 Democrats, Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel.

"We still are reaching the point where we’re burning out our troops. The evidence is everywhere. We have a small group of people who have been carrying the load for this country again and again," said Webb on the Senate floor before the July 4 recess. "We are violating the normal rotational policies that we took care to put in place over long years of experience."

Webb has repeatedly pointed out that active-duty service members have been historically allowed to remain home for twice the length of time that they have been deployed overseas -- the two-to-one ratio means that if a soldier was deployed for a year, he or she would be back in the U.S. and with family for two years. But that's all fallen apart with George W. Bush's refusal to change his failed course in Iraq.

"The war is headed in a dangerous direction, and Americans are united in the belief that we cannot wait until the Administration's September report before we change course in Iraq," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) Monday in support of Webb's legislation. "Attacks on U.S. forces are up, Iraqi political leaders are frozen in a dangerous stalemate and a change at every front is required if we are to succeed. We cannot ask our military to continue to fight without a strategy for success, and we certainly cannot ask them to fight before they are ready to do so."

In short, Senate Democrats will try to make the case to their Republican colleagues this week that this bill is yet another chance to show they truly support the troops in a way that goes beyond rhetoric and the yellow ribbons on their SUVs.

Congress has taken similar actions during other wars to protect the welfare of service members, such as in 1951 during the Korean War, when the Selective Service Act was amended to require that every person inducted into the armed forces received full training for no less than four months.

And, with Bush and Congressional Republicans having shown for years that they will not act to protect American troops or to ensure the ongoing readiness of our military, Webb is entirely unwilling to listen to charges of "micromanaging" the Iraq occupation.

"Quite frankly when the leadership of the United States military is not stepping up and defending its own people, we have a duty to slow this thing down," said Webb. "This war has been going on for more than 4 years. We’ve got a lot of issues we’re going to be discussing in this authorization bill designed to get a better policy that will reduce our footprint, that will enable us to fight international terrorism around the world, that will increase the stability of the region with proper diplomatic efforts and will allow us to address our strategic interests elsewhere. But until that happens, we’ve got to take care of the troops and this is the bottom line; it’s a floor."

"This isn’t some grand scheme of trying to push an ideal troop rotational scenario. This is the bottom line that we owe to people who have been sent into harm’s way."

You can read more from Bob at BobGeiger.com.

Update: You can see some video highlights of this afternoon's Webb-Reid press conference here.

[MADem]

1. Fascinating cosponsors, there. Obviously the Dems and Bernie are no surprise, but the lone

Republican (who has made no secret about how he feels about how this war has been mismanaged) is interesting, given the rumors about his political future (potential VP running mate with Bloomberg on an Indy ticket).

I'm surprised there aren't any other Republicans jumping on the bandwagon. Where's Lugar?

This is a good tactic--it will force the GOP to put their money where their big fat mouths are. You can "support the troops" with fluff and bullshit, or you can SUPPORT THOSE TROOPS with a sustainable deployment rotation.

Freakin' brilliant....!!!

[Va Lefty]

2. It's so great to finally have a Senator from Virginia of whom we can be proud!!

[lyonn]

10. Webb is a real plus for the Senate!

Imagine, he wiped out Allen Macaca, was that beautiful or what. Saw Webb speak yesterday and he lays it out for all to understand. Really like the guy. A good voice for a rational way out of Iraq. Poor McCain is on the Senate floor now quoting Kissinger! Noticed he threw in the Dems idea of getting other Arab countries involved, geez, no brainer.

[autorank]

3. That's my Senator, I'm proud to say. K*R

This would be a defacto pull out. He's one bright guy and he just can't stand Bush (recall his
statement about wanting to punch the guy;)

[JudyM]

4. Mine too - glad to have helped on the ground to put him in office!!

It's good to see all that effort pay off with action. I think I'll call his office in support.

[snowbear]

5. Maybe next year Virginians will have "W & W" in the U.S. Senate.....

"Webb and Warner"



Sure sounds like there's a good chance of it! ~~~

-------
edit to add: That's MARK Warner (D) .... not John Warner!!!!!!

[autorank]

7. "Mark not John" is how it goes.

He had real guts running against John Warner first time out. Did well too!

He needs to loosen up though. I wrote him after Keane won and suggested that he re-enfranchise
the 200,000 ex felons (mostly black male Virginians) who can't vote in Virginia. This policy is right from the post Reconstruction era when racists devised voter suppression in the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 - historical fact. Got a letter back from Keane saying he was writing for Warner and they'd done just fine in restoring rights...a whopping 5% in 4 years, hot dam. At that point, I was sure his presidential bid would go no where since there was no boldness. I'll be happy to vote for him but you have to ask yourself, why is it that Charlie Crist, R, FL, their new governor, wiped away the racist laws and not Warner, Keane and the other Democratic governors who could do it the same way.

[tblue37]

6. I believe I have read that troops are beng sent into battle zones without being

given that requireded 4 months of training, too. In fact, I have memories of reading of soldiers rushed into everything with just 2 weeks' worth of combat training. Does anyone else remember articles about that?

[defendandprotect]

8. Training Air Force members as ground forces at Fort Dix--!!!

Saw Webb speak on C-span tonight -- he's really very good.

The situation with our troops -- national guard -- unprecedented in their being run to point of exhaustion; destroying their families.

Undermanned -- underarmed -- underprotected -- disgraceful!!!


And, Webb correctly refers to the contractors as "mercenaries."

This is America -- ?????

IMPEACHMENT . . PLEASE . . . PLEASE . ..


PS: Re the Air Force ... my husband told me about two months ago that he heard that on some radio station. I haven't heard it anywhere else.
Also, they were offering retired police officers huge salaries -- like $160,000 per annum -- to do a year in Iraq.

[WCGreen]

9. I just can't imagine the kind of stress these poor soldiers are put under...

It's ridiculous that we have to depend so much on a volunteer force to fight a war that even I sitting on the sideline far far away could see would last a whole hell of a lot longer than they predicted...

Funny, Michael Moore thought that way as well...

And the people here, and over at Bartcop...

I don't know how the rest of America can look at them selves in the mirror and not be ashamed at what is reflected back...

[lyonn]

11. Bartcop, was that part of Media Whores.com?

Mediawhores is how I came upon DU. Name sounded dumb and it took me awhile to check it out and was pleasantly surprised.

Why did it take so much of the country so long to realize how wrong this war was from the beginning. Media of course. People now are getting some of their news from the internet and surely that is helping get the truth out.

[WCGreen]

13. It's a web site that I joined back in 2001...

It's still up and going but I prefer the instant gratification that DU has...

http://www.bartcop.com/

The guy is very funny...

[DeepModem Mom]

12. Thanks, Bob G.!