Draft Anyone?
December 19, 2006
The very first headline I saw when I got online this morning was this -
Bush to Expand Size of Military
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; 4:18 PM
President Bush said today that he plans to expand the size of the U.S. military to meet the challenges of a long-term global war against terrorists, a response to warnings that sustained deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the armed forces to near the breaking point.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Bush said he has instructed newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to report back to him with a plan to increase ground forces. The president gave no estimates about how many troops may be added but indicated that he agreed with suggestions in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that the current military is stretched too thin to cope with the demands placed on it.
“I’m inclined to believe that we do need to increase our troops — the Army, the Marines,” Bush said in the Oval Office session. “And I talked about this to Secretary Gates and he is going to spend some time talking to the folks in the building, come back with a recommendation to me about how to proceed forward on this idea.”
The president’s decision comes at a time when he is rethinking his strategy in Iraq and considering, among other options, a short-term surge in troop levels to try to secure violence-torn Baghdad. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are resisting the idea during internal debates in part out of the conviction that it will further strain already-pressed forces.
The first thing that popped into my head was “Oh My God. Bush is going to try to reinstate the draft.” I mean how else would it be possible to expand the size of the military? I mean Bush already “wants the Pentagon to lift its restrictions on the frequency and duration of involuntary call-ups of Army National Guard and Reserve troops, a politically sensitive issue. That would mean Army Guard and Reserve soldiers could expect more and longer tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, disrupting careers and imposing hardships on their families.” (from Cincinnati Post)
I guess it would kind of make sense for him to reinstate a draft. I mean so many things have been happening that are slowly turning this country into a fascist/military state. Plus, he also has 2 more years left in office so if it is proposed, it’s not like this is going to threaten his re-election efforts since he can’t be re-elected again. Of course, I am just speculating here, but I really wouldn’t be surprised if a draft came up simply because Bush is being stubborn about his Iraq policies and it seems that he thinks that more troops are the answer to stability there when we really should be getting out of there ASAP.
Filed under: Whatever
