This has to be said - now -

[Joe for Clark]

There just are not enough kids to stick in the line this spring - you know, what Hagel said - very honest.

What they do - are doing - they are disbanding the existing units and telling the kids - "well, you can finish in one of the X number other units" -

But all of them are going back to Iraq in the spring -

Get it?? - This is gamesmanship 101.

And it is happeniong right now.

And those kids know it and they are very mad.

[seemslikeadream]

1. I do Joe

:scared:

[leftofthedial]

2. they need to drive more middle class families into poverty quick!

so more kids will be available as cannon fodder

[BeHereNow]

5. Bingo. Economic draft.

No need to draft when the only job in town is enlistment.
Plus, they are offering citizenship to immigrants in turn
for service.
BHN

[MH1]

3. Yep

Remember back last year when the wingers were going around saying Kerry had "insulted the troops' intelligence"? (Which was a total crock and all the smear merchants knew that)

Who's insulting the troops' intelligence NOW, acting as if they won't understand what is being done here?

It all began with stop-loss...if they would do that and not increase force numbers, for an operation like this, then we knew it would come to this.

I feel for everyone who has loved ones there...I have one nephew-in-law going soon, and a nephew who hasn't been called but probably will be.

[Drum]

6. And nothing these days

can really be seen encouraging enlistment, right? It seems pretty dire, and I can't see anything appealing nowadays in looking toward a military career, not in the present atmosphere anyway---and certainly not if the folks subjected to this in the service are able to talk about it more.

Which would lead me to think that those who do enlist now would do so either as an economic last resort or as the result of trickery by recruiters.

And that is tragic.

[Joe for Clark]

4. Man this is really bad -

those dumb kids have done so much time there now - and they know they're about to get screwed and they can't say it out loud.

They know what is going on here - really they do.

They can't do it - but I ain't in the military - and I can.

That is what is going to happen. NOT IMO!!

I read that there was something of an artillery barage - maybe an air attack in N Iraq - and I undestand, maybe another 6 divisions stacked up on the Turkish border - got it.

But they did NOT follow thru.

They just might next time - or the time after. They do not trst we can contain it anymore - unoless they are really stupid.

It is no coincidence -IMO - that 2 birgades of Kurds disappeared in Baghdad - and reappeared on those oil pipelines S of Kirkuk - at all.

In fact - in all maybe a check was put on this thing. Thank god.

But you know - we are just like that little Dutch boy sticking his fingers in the holes in a dike - eventually we run out of fingers.

If Jesus Christ came down to give us direction - we are only as good as the weakest of us. And unfortunantly - the weakest of us has other intentions.

Joe