George Casey tells it straight

[retiredman]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa..._says_general/

Army Chief of Staff General George Casey had some pretty frightening stuff to tell congress. I trust his judgment implicitly.

From my perspective, this is what you get when you veer off target and start an unnecessary war in Iraq. Bush and his party have proven they are too inept to steer the ship of state.

[Dilloduck]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa..._says_general/

Army Chief of Staff General George Casey had some pretty frightening stuff to tell congress. I trust his judgment implicitly.

From my perspective, this is what you get when you veer off target and start an unnecessary war in Iraq. Bush and his party have proven they are too inept to steer the ship of state.

Are you recommending initiating the draft---again?

[Sir Evil]

Are you recommending initiating the draft---again?

He's recommending rather suggesting that the dems can do better. Just a easy jab at the administration plain & simple.

[retiredman]

Are you recommending initiating the draft---again?

I am recommending getting the hell out of Iraq.

The army would not be stretched to the breaking point if we were fighting our real enemies instead of babysitting an internecine spat between sects in Iraq.

And, for the record, I, personally, have no problem with mandatory national service.

[actsnoblemartin]

while i agree with you that its streching our troops to the breaking point, and it probably was un-neccesary. If we leave now, dont we just hand iran, more power in the region, as well as oil reserves?

second, dont we hand moral to the terrorists and cause even more terrorist attacks all over the world?

[Psychoblues]

You idiot. No.

[manu1959]

You idiot. No.

if no then the opposite must be true....

so if we leave....

iran will not overrun iraq and take the oil and power in the middle east

the freedom fighters will not get a moral boost and the number of terrorist attacks outside iraq will not increase?

[Psychoblues]

You think so? I think it beats the hell out of disrespecting our troops and causing 100's of American Troop deaths in the next few months and all for what? Not to mention the 1,000's of wounded. You ain't big on military issues, are you, m'59?

[retiredman]

if no then the opposite must be true....

so if we leave....

iran will not overrun iraq and take the oil and power in the middle east

the freedom fighters will not get a moral boost and the number of terrorist attacks outside iraq will not increase?

Unless we install a brutal sunni dictator to rein in the shiite majority (sound familiar?), Iran will eventually exert significant influence over a shiite government in Iraq regardless of when we leave. By removing Saddam, we set the stage for Iran to greatly increase its stature in the middle east... the rise of Hezbollah in Lebanon is one such manifestation. Our leaving Iraq will not change that.

"The freedom fighters"???? It's pretty sad when America opposes people who fight for freedom. lol.

Terrorist attacks outside Iraq? I am not at all convinced that there is some direct correlation between Iraq and terrorist attacks outside of Iraq - except for the fact that 150K american troops occupying an arab country might be considered "low hanging fruit" for those whose goal is to harm Americans. I hardly think that keeping troops in Iraq just so that THEY can be the victims of IED's there is a wise strategic decision, do you?

If we were tostop babysitting a civil war, leave Iraq and put our real emphasis and effort and assets behind an all out attempt to root out AQ cells and leadership, I see no reason why we couldn't be more successful in our war against islamic extremism than we are today.

[truthmatters]

In his first appearance as Army chief of staff, Casey told the House Armed Services Committee that the Army is "out of balance" and "the current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply. We are consumed with meeting the demands of the current fight and are unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as necessary for other potential contingencies."


Dont you people get what this means?

It means we cant protect ourselves anymore.

It means we are vulnerable to attack.

Some would recomend we just keep on being vulnerable to attack and being unable to defend oursleves for years to come?

[diuretic]

Is Casey speaking truth to power?

[truthmatters]

I think he is speaking truth to those who have relenquished their power.

I think the Power knows the truth already but there are some Americans who refuse to hear the truth and it is to them he is pleading for sanity.

I try to do the same myself when I can.

[diuretic]

I think he is speaking truth to those who have relenquished their power.

I think the Power knows the truth already but there are some Americans who refuse to hear the truth and it is to them he is pleading for sanity.

I try to do the same myself when I can.

Good. Keep it going.

[darin]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa..._says_general/

Army Chief of Staff General George Casey had some pretty frightening stuff to tell congress. I trust his judgment implicitly.

From my perspective, this is what you get when you veer off target and start an unnecessary war in Iraq. Bush and his party have proven they are too inept to steer the ship of state.

I bet you get horny EVERY TIME somebody says something like that. Words that turn you on:

The Army is tired.
Soldiers don't like to deploy. (side note: I shared a beer or 5 with a SFC and a CPT who are PISSED that their units left for Iraq w/o them. They are the 'stay-behind' OIC and NCOIC.)
The Army is spread-thin.
Enlistment rates are down.
The Army suffered a defeat.

Don't tie your irrelevant, out-of-touch opinions on Army deployments to the comments made by Gen. Casey. He said nothing that should surprise anybody. You say the Army is stretched thin because of an "unnecessary war"? Maybe forces are stretched thin because of clinton's massive draw-down?

[diuretic]

Stop that language. I'm getting the vapours.