"army stretched thin" and other hard to believe statements..

[Postman]

Just how large, in manpower, is the US Army?

How many Divisions are deployed or sitting in far off places around the globe that haven't been used in Iraq?

Surely there must be plenty of Divisions in Korea, Europe, the Pacific Islands, the continental US and other unknown corners of the earth that the US has seen fit to occupy that they could send to Iraq to relieve those soldiers on their umpteenth tour of duty...

How is it there is this huge Federal Budget allocated for the Pentagon that cuts into each citizens lives by denying them subsidized healthcare yet we are hearing the trite bromide of "the army is stretched to the breaking point"...

[lonestarnot]

1. No trickle down there. I have it on personal experience.

[bryant69]

2. So if we just pulled out of all our bases around the world

And dumped those troops in Iraq we'd be fine? That's your theory?

Interesting.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[patricia92243]

6. I never have understood what the purpose of us having bases around the wor

world. Do other countires have bases in the US? I know there are embassies.

[Postman]

7. No. That's not my theory at all. In fact I didn't mention a theory.

You're just making assumptions.

But one thing worth noting is that "the Empire" is not sustainable.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I've been asking that question as well. Where is the regular army?

[JuniperLea]

4. The Army makes no money for BushCo

I'm sure they want it to suffer and perhaps fold so they have the excuse to go privatized... Halliburton, ya know?

[tiptoe]

9. or employ chaos-techniques to "argue" and legislate a military draft

The more American this Neocon admin can control, the more civil liberties taken away, the more prisons built, the less secure the ports, fear of terrorism promoted and preserved...the more secure its existence.

Deliberate "Alcibiadization" of the forces in Iraq, in order to compel Congress to institute a military draft?

The Neocon way: create/let-happen chaos events in order to compel policy changes. 9/11,lie to start a "war on terror" in Iraq,Katrina,MiddleEast NON-peace initiative,

[Ezlivin]

5. It's only stretched thin because they are trying to avoid the draft

Their assessment of the Army's capability is based upon the ability to fight on multiple fronts. It is my understanding that the Army doesn't have the "fresh" troops and good equipment that they require.

[tiptoe]

11. it only *appears* they are trying to avoid a draft. The "stretching thin"

is "making an argument" for a draft that Congress "can't refuse."

[Bob3]

8. Nope - they've been rotating them in and out of Iraq

just about every unit in the army has gone through the meat grinder. And remember in the US army, the proportion of support troops to ground troops is very high - they've toned it down a bit but in Vietnam it was something like 7 support troops for every person in the field getting shot at. So the casualties are concentrated in combat units.

And it isn't just KIA - something like 10,000 troops have been wounded, many grievously. we're getting chewed up pretty badly there - and the volunteer force just can't make up the losses.

Never mind the equipment shortages we're starting to see as equipment breaks down in the harsh conditions in Iraq.

it's a huge FUBAR.

[Postman]

10. I understand. So a "Draft" will be great.

This way they can have all the bodies they need to get chewed up....

[tiptoe]

13. they can at least sustain money-pit operations, keeping Treasury drained..

keeping outlays for social programs shrunk and thereby inventing "compelling arguments" for privatization.

"A good use of American citizen deaths by the Chickenhawk CEOs of the military-industrial-complex"

[JHB]

12. And part of the reason for that shift from support units to combat...

...has been the contracting out of many of the support functions the Army used to do in-house. All the better for handing out pork-laden contracts to well-connected companies...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. The military is always short of troops and money to "protect" us.

According to the brass at the Pentagon who want to ensure their post-retirement jobs in the "defense industry".

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” H.L. Mencken

[mom cat]

17. And the Pentagon can not yet account for TRILLIONS of dollare that are

AWOL.

[atreides1]

15. The Army is stretched thin

The US Army currently only has 10 active Combat Divisions

1st Infantry
2nd Infantry
3rd Infantry
4th Infantry
10th Infantry
25th Infantry
1st Cavalry
82nd Airborne
101st Airborne
1st Armored

There are also some seperate brigades that if formed together might constitute 2 or 3 more divisions.

The 2nd ID is split up into 4 brigades of which only one is actually in South Korea with the other 3
being located in the US. This seems pretty silly especially when their primary mission is to assist in the defense of South Korea should the North decide to attack.

At this juncture I honestly believe that the US Army would have a small chance of actually defending the Continental US if an attack should take place.

[tiptoe]

16. One might question whether this "stretching thin" is the actual goal...

since the Downing Street Memo proves there is no legitimate basis for the "war" in Iraq.

[acmejack]

18. Ratio of support troops to combat troops

Ratio of Support Personnel to Combat Personnel in Defense Analyses and Actual Conflicts
Conflict or Analysis Ratio
(Support personnel to combat personnel)

World War II 1.7 to 1

Korean War 1.5 to 1

Vietnam War 1.8 to 1

Persian Gulf War 1 1.4 to 1

Mobility Requirements Study Bottom-Up Review Update 1.8 to 1

Total Army Analysis 2003 2.5 to 1

http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=301&sequence=3