Iran - The "Is it time for a new war" thread
#31
Originally Posted by Odin's Wrath
...When someone that isn't a threat to national security is convicted due to Homeland Security wiretaps, I'll be upset about it, too.
Not saying convictions will never happen, just that the convictions will not be directly linkable to 'wiretaps'. They wouldn't be winnable if they were.
So, you don't have to worry about ever getting upset.
#32
If we ever bomb Iran or North Korea, I say don't puzzy foot, wipe the map clean... I just want to ride on the lead B-52, and look down as we rain two-thousand pounders on them, or 108 500 pounders; both would be fun...
I guess what really chaps my ****, is the fact that Russia is willing to help the SOB's. If we have to put Iran on blast, gas will be $6.00 a gallon. But, Israel said if the council can't punk Iran, they will- just like they did Iraq.
I guess what really chaps my ****, is the fact that Russia is willing to help the SOB's. If we have to put Iran on blast, gas will be $6.00 a gallon. But, Israel said if the council can't punk Iran, they will- just like they did Iraq.
Last edited by Bighersh; 03-09-2006 at 04:13 PM.
#33
Originally Posted by Raoul
Well, that's never going to happen.
Not saying convictions will never happen, just that the convictions will not be directly linkable to 'wiretaps'. They wouldn't be winnable if they were.
So, you don't have to worry about ever getting upset.
Not saying convictions will never happen, just that the convictions will not be directly linkable to 'wiretaps'. They wouldn't be winnable if they were.
So, you don't have to worry about ever getting upset.
If there is meat, the wolves will get at it.
#34
Originally Posted by Raoul
A symptom of an all-volunteer force.
During Vietnam, your number came up, you did one 12 month tour and that was it, usually.
The Pentagon had the Draft so there was an endless supply available.
During Vietnam, your number came up, you did one 12 month tour and that was it, usually.
The Pentagon had the Draft so there was an endless supply available.
#36
Originally Posted by Raoul
vader, is that the military being stretched thin?
There was an editorial cartoon about a month ago about a military quadruple amputee. Rumsfeld is at his bedside looking at his chart and says, "I'm listing your condition as 'Battle Hardened'"
It received right wing uproar and letter of condemnation from the JCS.
I read it as ignoring 'stretched too thin' and living in denial about it.
My friend got back from a year in Afghanistan and just learned he's doing a year in Iraq. Only 16 months apart.
There was an editorial cartoon about a month ago about a military quadruple amputee. Rumsfeld is at his bedside looking at his chart and says, "I'm listing your condition as 'Battle Hardened'"
It received right wing uproar and letter of condemnation from the JCS.
I read it as ignoring 'stretched too thin' and living in denial about it.
My friend got back from a year in Afghanistan and just learned he's doing a year in Iraq. Only 16 months apart.
#37
Oh, so you or I do a 3 to 5 stint in the scenaro above and someone gets a case of conscience 8 years from now and that's supposed to make me feel better?
They want to Jail the NSA leak, and may do so.
Some here wanted him shot for treason.....
Damn Odin where'd all these posters come from?
They want to Jail the NSA leak, and may do so.
Some here wanted him shot for treason.....
Damn Odin where'd all these posters come from?
Last edited by Raoul; 03-09-2006 at 04:23 PM. Reason: got to use quote during the busy hours...
#38
Originally Posted by Bighersh
I think all able-bodied and minded adults should be required to serve 26 months active duty between 18 and 26 years of age...
I'm torn on that issue. On the one hand I understand what you're saying and want to agree but I can't
Compulsory service has it problems.
My own life would have been drastically altered were I required to give 2 years of my life to mandatory service. The typical 18 year old may have no sense of direction or what they want in life. However, I was quite driven and by the age of 19 I was married with a home, two cars, etc. I'm now 30 with two children almost 11 years of marriage to a great woman and a good paying career with potential for more, including if I work it right self-employment.
Those two years would have cost me dearly, my wife and children being possible casualties of required service.
What makes my respect for our armed services so much greater is that they are there because they chose to be, not because they have to be.
#39
Originally Posted by Raoul
Oh, so you or I do a 3 to 5 stint in the scenaro above and someone gets a case of conscience 8 years from now and that's supposed to make me feel better?
They want to Jail the NSA leak, and may do so.
Some here wanted him shot for treason.....
Damn Odin where'd all these posters come from?
They want to Jail the NSA leak, and may do so.
Some here wanted him shot for treason.....
Damn Odin where'd all these posters come from?
#40
Originally Posted by vader716
I'm torn on that issue. On the one hand I understand what you're saying and want to agree but I can't
Compulsory service has it problems.
My own life would have been drastically altered were I required to give 2 years of my life to mandatory service. The typical 18 year old may have no sense of direction or what they want in life. However, I was quite driven and by the age of 19 I was married with a home, two cars, etc. I'm now 30 with two children almost 11 years of marriage to a great woman and a good paying career with potential for more, including if I work it right self-employment.
Those two years would have cost me dearly, my wife and children being possible casualties of required service.
What makes my respect for our armed services so much greater is that they are there because they chose to be, not because they have to be.
Compulsory service has it problems.
My own life would have been drastically altered were I required to give 2 years of my life to mandatory service. The typical 18 year old may have no sense of direction or what they want in life. However, I was quite driven and by the age of 19 I was married with a home, two cars, etc. I'm now 30 with two children almost 11 years of marriage to a great woman and a good paying career with potential for more, including if I work it right self-employment.
Those two years would have cost me dearly, my wife and children being possible casualties of required service.
What makes my respect for our armed services so much greater is that they are there because they chose to be, not because they have to be.
Could have, but not a guaranteed loss...
Don't think because it's a volunter service, these guys are all ready to jump on a plane... They are not; I sure wasn't, but, because I had volunteered, I didn't have as much of a problem with the thought of losing my life; I didn't want to, but if I was going to go, it had to be with my brothers in arms. I'd rather have gone with my old unit (B. Co 123rd SIG BN) with whom I'd served 2 years; but here I was with guys I'd only known 7 months... Many did not view their oath and obligation like I did, including my roomate, who, when faced with being shipped to Saudi Arabia to prepare for the war, pulled out every trick in the book, including: Conscientous Objector and Religion (By changing his religion to Muslim.) When that didn't work, he and the ones that began to follow his lead, had a petition going aorund trying to get so many signatures, in the hope that JAG would override the Colonel, and make them an exception, allowing them to stay back. When they came to me and my team, I said man- get away from me with that... If we're going, you're going too! He was a 10 year vet, I had been in 3 years at that point...
You would not believe what happens, even in a volunteer force, when reality sets in that military service is not going to always be, Mon - Fri, 06:00 or 06:30 AM - 16:30 or 17:00, (4:30 or 5:00 PM), with lunch from 11:30 - 13:00 (1:00 PM for you civilians), with the occasional 5 - 45 day camping trip. Sometimes, it gets real...
When I joined in 1987, there were 780,000 Soldiers in the Active US Army, along with roughly 700,000 in the Navy, 700,000 in the Air Force, and 250,000 or so in the Marines. (This is not counting the National Guard, the Active Reserves, or IRR troops).
When I got out in 1996, the goal was, 550,000 in the Army, 500,000 in the Air Force, 480,000 in the Navy, and 195,000 Marines. Effectively shedding, 685,000 troops- the equivalent of one branch of service in 1987. The rolls are probably even shorter now, now that people realize that getting out of the Army, doesn't mean flipping burgers for the rest of your life, there are good jobs, higher paying jobs, after the military.
Technology can help you win a war (1991); but, technology alone can't keep you in the winner's circle; you need feet in some boots in order to do that. Shedding damn-near 700,000 SOLDIERS, airmen, sailors and Marines, is bound to have an effect on your global capability... Before anyone blames Clinton, this "shedding" started in October 1991, 15 months before Clinton was sworn in, with the "Pick your own ETS Date" notification put out, in order to begin to trim down the ranks. That migrated on into the "Paid Early Out" programs (May 1992), which paid soldiers as much as $30,000 in a lump sum to get out... In less than 2 years time, we went from having a "stay back" roster when we went to the field, due to not having a mission for everyone in certain scenarios, to wonderign how we were going to get all our vehicles to the field to do our mission because we didn't have enough people...
I don't know how it is today, but, from 1993 - 1996; it got tighter and more difficult to perform our training missions, let alone real life as those guys are facing today- taking losses... Who are they being replaced with, with recruitment at almost record lows?
Last edited by Bighersh; 03-09-2006 at 06:03 PM.
#43