W wants to increase the voluntary military

[Erika]

How is he going to do that? On CNN tonight, it was said he will lower the intelligence and aptitude tests. A thought is out there that he will also allow illegals to fight to gain their citizenship. Critics say it will be the downfall of a first class military.

[everythingsxen]

1. I'm sure he can "draft" an interesting plan.

;-)

[AngusMacBangus]

2. I served for 4 years in the USMC

and this isnt going to work. Its hard to find kids who want to join in the climate we are in now. The only way it can happen is to lower standards, which will lead to more "Abu Ghraib" nonsense....

[wake.up.america]

3. It just gets worse, doesn't it? Bush' decision to attack Iraq has created...

a domino effect.

Before too long, the whole country will be working to support the war machine.

[Selatius]

4. We're going to have to borrow even more money to expand the military, aren't we?

It's young people who are going to be forced to pay off the debts politicians from their grandparents' generation decided to run up.

[TahitiNut]

15. "young people who are going to be forced to pay"

Ironic.

[rollopollo]

5. Alternative Universe

There is no sense in talking to this administration. It's as if Bush is in an alternative universe. Given the deterioration and chaos in Iraq, the increasing death count, the fact that Republicans and Democrats- rank & file and politicans are advocating withdrawal, the recent elections which were tied to the war in Iraq, the Iraq Study Group report, respected Republicans like Colin Powell arguing essentially for withdrawal, the President's response to this is to increase the number of troops? Sometimes I wish I didn't stay up to date on the news, because it is maddening. Our troops are spread thin in Iraq....Bush is saber-rattling against Iran by sending troops in the Persian Gulf, there have been repeated calls to attend to matters in Afghanistan. If this isn't enough, we apparently have already started to foment insurgency in Syria (The Bush Administration has been quietly nurturing individuals and parties opposed to the Syrian government in an effort to undermine the regime of President Bashar Assad. Parts of the scheme are outlined in a classified, two-page document...)

Maybe Bush is right. We may need several hundred thousand more troops to fight these four wars. Unbelievable.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. Tahiti Nut -- your observations

on the state of the military -- and how this administration views the value of its soldiers -- are shown to be more and more astute.

Thanks for the post Erika.

[TahitiNut]

14. Far be it from us to equitably share the burdens of our own governance.

As long as we're comfy in front of some kind of CRT (TV or computer or video game) with some fast food, giving lip service to such nice-sounding words like 'democracy' and 'liberal' and 'protest,' who cares how many impoverished, desperate, mentally-challenged people get coerced into 'volunteering'? Just call 'em 'stupid' or 'animals' and pass the beer.

:puke:

[bobbolink]

16. And then fuggitabout 'em when they get back.

Health care? ppphhhffftttt!

Decent wages to live on back in the states? HAH!

Taking care of those unable to cope because of PTSD, etc? go 'way, kid, ya bodda me...

:mad:

[ConsAreLiars]

7. $40,000 sign-up bribes are apparently not enough

to induce even enough of the most desperate members of the US populace to sign up to murder innocents and be killed by those who resent the invaders. Lowering the standards to include convicted serial killers may help the numbers, but not the quality. Asa for the "first class" characterization, I doubt that has ever been true since the US ruling classes decided that imperialism through war was in their best interest as a class.

[JohnnyLib2]

8. Sat in a room with 3 retired field grade officers a few days back--

all 3 were appalled at the misuse of the military; there was talk of 30 years or more to repair the damage that Rumsfeld and Bush have done to the active forces.

And that was before Bush's proposals this week....

[Erika]

9. Our military has been misused and abused

They were never meant for this type of operation. They aren't police or construction workers. I feel so badly for what W has used them for.

[MADem]

10. They have ALREADY done that--they've increased CAT IV accessions, as well as NHSGs

CAT IVs are not quite morons, those are CAT Vs. But they are stupid. They've done 'poorly' on their ASVAB tests. NHSGs are non-high school grads. We used to take NONE, then we took only ones who scored in the upper percentile, if they got a GED.

High school graduation is one of the best predictors for success in the Services. You are far more likely to complete your enlistment if you have the diploma before you raise your right hand. If you get a GED, the odds say you will do better than a NHSG, but not as well as a HSG.

So, if he says he "will" lower these markers, he's doing the fucking limbo, mon. He's already lowered them, along with the formerly strict requirements vis a vis criminal records, drug use, and so forth. They've even changed the medical regs to allow kids that were ineligible (due to ADD type difficulties, allergies, and other medical conditions) under Clinton to enlist under BushCo.

It's just another thing he's ruined. He took America's all-volunteer force out of America's toybox (where it was played with, but was kept in pristine condition and put away nicely after each use), tossed some of the soldiers in the microwave just to watch them dissolve into little green puddles, abandoned some in the sandbox, and they've been ruined....melted, baked, faded and cracked in the sun, frozen in harsh winter, chewed by the neighbor dog, crapped on by that cat that lives next door, stolen by squirrels--that selfish rich kid has come in like a bull in a china shop and destroyed our prized toys...we'll never get our AVF back, it will take twenty years to repair the awful mess he made. Chickenhawk bastard.

[Fire Walk With Me]

11. It's been pointed out that cutting education funding is a type of draft, so watch for that.

Source: "Why We Fight" documentary.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/

Reagan did this. Cut the Pell grant and others and watch the fun.

[Higans]

12. He offered to "rescue" Katrina victums if they sighned up.

[GreenZoneLT]

13. Not hard, just expensive

The all-volunteer Army was at 750,000 at the time of the first Gulf War; it's now just above 500,000. It got tougher and tougher to get in the military once they started drawing down in '91; they'll just be dropping standards back to where they were 15 years ago. With the odds of getting in combat being so much higher, they'll have to pay higher incentives (mostly enlistment bonuses).

The other big expense is replacing all the wornout gear, and buying a bunch of new gear to equip the extra people.

So, a slight decrease in quality and big increase in expense, for a larger, more versatile Army that probably won't get used nearly as much once W and his bunch are run out of Washington on a rail.

[shadowknows69]

17. It should be entertaining to see him pull more troops out of his ass

Actually I'm meeting a LOT of new guys right out of basic. That 40,000 bonus is attracting them like flies. Lots of talk of new trucks, when/if they get back.