Bush Legacy is a Fractured Military
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Young Army officers, including growing numbers of captains
who leave as soon as their initial commitment is fulfilled, are bailing out
of active-duty service at rates that have alarmed senior officers. Last year,
more than a third of the West Point class of 2000 left active duty at the
earliest possible moment, after completing their five-year obligation.It was the second year in a row of worsening retention
numbers, apparently marking the end of a burst of patriotic fervor during
which junior officers chose continued military service at unusually high rates.
Young
Officers Leaving Army at a High Rate
Republicans just do not understand what they have done to the
U.S. military. Bush's legacy, which has been aided and abetted by the Republican
Congress, will live for us for years, likely a generation, because people do
not forget bad wars, a horrific commander in chief and the worst Secretary of
Defense in U.S. history.
The good news is that one-third of new officers took incentives
to stay on an extra three years, a huge number, according to the Times article.
However, there is a catch. With the challenge of retention, we've got “generals
worriedly discussing among themselves whether the Army will have the widest
choice possible for its next generation of leaders.”
We should all be worried. We should also remember that it is a
result of George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and the Republicans in Congress who
have not been a friend to the U.S. military, because they have not done their
jobs. Iraq has been so badly mismanaged that soldiers don't want any part of
the revolving tours of duty.
… but before the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, 9.3 percent of the Army's young officers left active duty at their
first opportunity. By 2002, the number of those junior officers leaving at
their first opportunity dropped to 7.1 percent, and in 2003, only 6.3 percent
opted out. But the number grew to 8.3 percent in 2004 and 8.6 percent in 2005.
(NY
Times)
The Fighting Dems
represent veterans running for Congress 2006, all from the Democratic Party.
Republicans can't touch our numbers, with Democrats totaling between 40-50 veterans.
Where are the fighting Republicans? There are only a couple and
they don't have a website, that's for sure.
Soldiers are no longer afraid or ashamed to stand up and say they
are Democrats. The legacy of Vietnam is past. George W. Bush has become the
Republican Party's Vietnam, with help from Donald Rumsfeld and the Republicans
in Congress who have backed Bush's every disastrous move.
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