Joint Chiefs chair: Military overstretched, Bush disagrees

T

Tribal Imperialist

Veteran X
I don't know who to believe here. General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff (highest non-civillian position in the military,) told Congress last week that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would harm our ability to fight another war should one come up. Last week, Bush said in a press conference that the military is not limited by the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Oh wait, I lied, I know exactly who to believe.

Anyone else notice that as generals retire/approach retirement they start contradicting the president an awful lot?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/03/myers.report/index.html
 
Of course, they have nothing to lose when they get near retirement, so they're not afraid to speak the truth.
 
Is the president in the line of command?

Fer instance, can he give a lawful order to a non-commisioned soldier or can he only talk to the joint chiefs?
 
bane said:
Is the president in the line of command?

Fer instance, can he give a lawful order to a non-commisioned soldier or can he only talk to the joint chiefs?
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I believe he can issue any lawful command he damn well pleases to anyone in the military
 
So what can we do? We're already trying to bring our troops back from Japan and Germany and the like. I don't think we're ready to bring troops back from Iraq or Afghanistan just yet. So, honestly, what can be done?
 
bane said:
Is the president in the line of command?

Fer instance, can he give a lawful order to a non-commisioned soldier or can he only talk to the joint chiefs?
Click to expand...
im not sure how it legally works, but i cant imagine some buck private not jumping if the president told him to do something
 
RNJBOND said:
So what can we do? We're already trying to bring our troops back from Japan and Germany and the like. I don't think we're ready to bring troops back from Iraq or Afghanistan just yet. So, honestly, what can be done?
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Well, I think we all know what will be done if another war breaks out for some reason, and all our troops are still over there in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Do you like wearing blue or green?
 
first off, what kinda of war and why do we need to fight it? How would it be more important then what we are doing now
 
You didn't quite answer my question. Come on.

If war breaks out in Iran, we'll be right next door to Iran, which would give us a nice entry point in, so we'd stretch our troops even more, which is most definitely not ideal.

But, for now, what can we do with our overstretched troops?
 
RNJBOND said:
So what can we do? We're already trying to bring our troops back from Japan and Germany and the like. I don't think we're ready to bring troops back from Iraq or Afghanistan just yet. So, honestly, what can be done?
Click to expand...

Quit trying to police the planet? Stop starting wars? Quit invading countries?

There are several options on the table.
 
Tribal Imperialist said:
I believe he can issue any lawful command he damn well pleases to anyone in the military
Click to expand...

That's pretty fucking scary, but on the other hand I would rather have an elected leader calling the shots in the end.

edit: and you guys should check out a map sometime because Iran is bordered by both Iraq and Afghanistan
 
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RNJBOND said:
You didn't quite answer my question. Come on.

If war breaks out in Iran, we'll be right next door to Iran, which would give us a nice entry point in, so we'd stretch our troops even more, which is most definitely not ideal.

But, for now, what can we do with our overstretched troops?
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take more from Europe. Shit, take like 95% from Europe and put them into iraq. The big bad Russian bear is not going to attack them, and even if it did, europe would deserve for the shit they did to us in the UN. The troops in europe would be much better put off in Iraq. I don't understand why they are not there already.

i also remember hearing that 65% of the US military is in homeland america. My question is: why isn't that amount lower? The best way to stop terrorist attacks is thru oversees and the CIA/FBI, not having massive amounts of armies here. WHy don't u just lower that to like 50% or so and move the rest ot iraq?
 
bane said:
That's pretty fucking scary, but on the other hand I would rather have an elected leader calling the shots in the end.
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that's not scary, that is how it is has been for the last 200 years
 
RNJBOND said:
You didn't quite answer my question. Come on.

If war breaks out in Iran, we'll be right next door to Iran, which would give us a nice entry point in, so we'd stretch our troops even more, which is most definitely not ideal.

But, for now, what can we do with our overstretched troops?
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We do exactly what some guy who was running for some office last year (what's his name?) said. Get other countries to commit troops.

You don't do that by being a dickwad. You don't do that by pulling out of treaties. You don't do that by nominating Bolton for the UN.

Maybe you think it makes Bush some awsome tough "STONE COLD SAID SO" kinda guy, but calling someone a "cowboy" is an insult in most of the world.
 
I can't speak for the entire military, but my base (NH ANG) where I along with alot of others have been activated pretty much since 911, are doing pretty good. As a unit we are alot more effective because instead of 1 weekend a month to perfect our craft at fixing these jets we have 5 days a week.

I hope I am activated another 10 years to be honest. Of course it is alot harder for the army, but i still can't speak for them.

The only real negative is the threat of long term deployments does hurt recruiting. the upside is those who are recruited know they may have to deploy, so we have a higher percentage of the right kind of people joining (not knocking those who don't join, some shouldn't).
 
just the fact that a man that has not been through the military (sometimes) is able give orders is the only thing that kind of weirds me out
 
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