12 Former Army Captains: "LEAVE IRAQ IMMEDIATELY"+Dole & Shalala Shame Bush For Vet Treatment (WAPO)

[kpete]

The Real Iraq We Knew

By 12 former Army captains
Tuesday, October 16, 2007; 12:00 AM

U.S. forces, responsible for too many objectives and too much "battle space," are vulnerable targets. The sad inevitability of a protracted draw-down is further escalation of attacks -- on U.S. troops, civilian leaders and advisory teams. They would also no doubt get caught in the crossfire of the imminent Iraqi civil war.

Iraqi security forces would not be able to salvage the situation. Even if all the Iraqi military and police were properly trained, equipped and truly committed, their 346,000 personnel would be too few. As it is, Iraqi soldiers quit at will. The police are effectively controlled by militias. And, again, corruption is debilitating. U.S. tax dollars enrich self-serving generals and support the very elements that will battle each other after we're gone.

This is Operation Iraqi Freedom and the reality we experienced. This is what we tried to communicate up the chain of command. This is either what did not get passed on to our civilian leadership or what our civilian leaders chose to ignore. While our generals pursue a strategy dependent on peace breaking out, the Iraqis prepare for their war -- and our servicemen and women, and their families, continue to suffer.

There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition.

America, it has been five years. It's time to make a choice

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101500841.html


and

A Duty to the Wounded
Our Newest Veterans Need Help Now

By Bob Dole and Donna E. Shalala
Tuesday, October 16, 2007; Page A19

It is time to decide -- do we reform the current military and veterans' disability evaluation and compensation systems or limp along, placing Band-Aids over existing flaws?

It has been more than 2 1/2 months since our commission presented its six pragmatic recommendations to improve the system of care for our injured service members and their families. Our recommendations are eminently doable and designed for immediate implementation. While progress has been made, more work remains. And the clock is ticking.

The vast majority of the steps needed to implement our recommendations must be taken by the administration. Since unveiling our report, we have met frequently with officials from the White House and the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. We are pleased that they are moving forward with several critical changes, including the development of recovery plans and assigning coordinators to oversee the care of our most seriously injured troops.

Despite this support, however, it is clear that our recommendations are being swept up in a decades-long battle to reform the entire disability system for all service members. It is important to remember that our commission was tasked with improving care and benefits for those returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While we hope that our recommendations will help many others, our mission was to make the system work better for this new generation of veterans.

more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501324.html

[greenman3610]

1. damn phony soldiers

[Bozita]

2. Time for a draft. Pass one and watch the colleges explode.

Sharpen your pitchforks. Find fuel for your torches.

[pnwmom]

4. 50,000 Americans died during Vietnam despite the college protests.

Sure, the draft got students protesting -- but it also fed 50,000 kids to the war machine, bodies that the warmongers wouldn't have had to play with without the draft.

No thanks. Been there, done that. This is a naive, discredited idea. Read some more history to find out why.

[DeSwiss]

3. Good for them!!!

But I also hope they have good security. Because soldiers who criticize this administration have a habit of turning up, less than alive. A lot less.

And every time another soldier speaks out this way, those Red White & Blue lapel pin wearers shrink a little further into insignificance.

THEY CAN'T ALL BE PHONIES, RUSH!!!! I wonder how he'll explain these patriots?!?!? Battle fatigue? Al-Queda plants? Hmmmm.....



K&R

[kpete]

5. I call this "the Army giving the collective finger."

Army Offers Captains $35K; Captains Give Blistering Response
by Brandon Friedman
Tue Oct 16, 2007 at 02:05:58 AM PDT
On October 11, just five days ago, the Washington Post reported that Defense Secretary Robert Gates had authorized the Army to offer bonuses of up to $35,000 to keep captains from leaving the service.

Today, on October 16—just five days later—12 former Army captains (all Iraq veterans) responded by advocating for a withdrawal from Iraq:

There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition.

America, it has been five years. It's time to make a choice.

Now, most Republicans will call this "defeatism." Rush will call this "phoniness." And Frederick Kagan will likely call this "short-term thinking."

I call this "the Army giving the collective finger."

[Spazito]

6. Good article by the WP...

Thanks for posting it.

Recommended.

[dtotire]

7. How The Freepers Handle This Story

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1911933/posts