Now that they've broken the military, Pace can finally read the writing on the wall

posted by Bill Arnett @ 11:01 AM Permalink

I don't know if it is good news or not, but now that he has finished aiding and abetting the slow destruction of our military General Peter Pace is expected to file a report recommending that the number of troops in Iraq be cut in half. He is not recommending this because of any noble purpose, he hasn't come to his senses and realized the enormity of the mistake made by invading Iraq in the first place, it isn't because he thinks we're winning, and it's not out of concern for our troops suffering in the hellhole we've created in Iraq.

No, there's no noble, altruistic motive for this, it's strictly because it will be impossible for our military services to survive if the numbers are not reduced.

See this short article from the Huffington Post:

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is expected to advise President Bush to reduce the U.S. force in Iraq next year by almost half, potentially creating a rift with top White House officials and other military commanders over the course of the war.

Administration and military officials say Marine Gen. Peter Pace is likely to convey concerns by the Joint Chiefs that keeping well in excess of 100,000 troops in Iraq through 2008 will severely strain the military. This assessment could collide with one being prepared by the U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, calling for the U.S. to maintain higher troop levels for 2008 and beyond.

When a JCS says the military will be "severely strained" what he is really saying is that our forces are being depleted at a rate which cannot be maintained without further serious damage to our already severely damaged military.

It also means the JCS realizes that America is without any combat-ready brigades at all to respond to any emergencies. Not. One. Single. Combat-ready. Brigade. Right now all combat-ready brigades are either bogged down in Iraq or stationed in South Korea.

Our fabled Airborne divisions that were formerly able to bring a fierce fight to any enemy, anywhere in the world within twelve hours (Death from Above) are gone, as in they no longer have that capability due to a lack of trained soldiers, a lack of equipment with which to train them, and a lack of resources in general to maintain their "ready" status.

It could very well be another step towards a draft as well, as enlistment rates continue to drop, even in groups of people who ordinarily enlist at a greater rate than most. African-Americans who used to provide up to 20% of our forces are now providing only 12% of our troops.

The bush maladministration would have you believe that enlistments are down because of "a strong economy and low unemployment." That must be why they are enlisting criminals, gang members, drug abusers, and others whose conduct would have immediately disqualified them for service in the recent past. (You could be drug-dealing crook exhibiting gross moral turpitude as a gang-member and the Army will get you waivers to enlist you, but if you're gay…well, that's just too much for our Republican leaders to tolerate, eh?)

In short, it would be my guess that cooler heads at the Pentagon finally got Pace to hold still long enough to give him a breakdown on the numbers showing that America cannot possibly keep troops tied up in Iraq forever. (It must have been a real doozy of a report, too, to prompt sycophant Pace's disagreement with bush/cheney.)

Unfortunately bush will no doubt seize this data and use it to justify a return to the draft unless it is clear that this is the one route sure to ignite the public at last and, mayhap, bring a return of the Sixties-style protest marches and direct warnings from those crowds that anyone voting for a draft will find it very difficult to ever get elected dogcatcher, much less retain a seat in congress.

It could also mean that those same cooler heads will resist any attempt to attack Iran, thus preventing bush from being the first president to lose three wars simultaneously.

Labels: Bush, GOP, Iraq war, military