A Simple Question for Barack, Earned

[Nate Peele]

Oh you mean he voted for a bill which would result with decreased retention rates. You really want to go there, to votes that Obama has missed(voting present)? The man accidently ended up at the Capitol to vote . The importance that this war ends well is paramount, something any person with a brain should realize. But apparently Obama and a lot of Dems just want to withdrawal at any cost, which is foolish.

Thank you for pointing out the retention rates? Don't these lie-berals get it? If returning to civillian life is pleasant for these soldiers who in their right mind would stay in Iraq? That's why it is important that we continue to underfund verterans programs like education and the VA. The more miserable life is for returning veterans the more likely we can get our soldiers to sign up for another tour.

 

[Nate Peele]

But the Virginia Democrat's effort to remedy the perceived slight, which has gained support in Congress, runs afoul of how officials at the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs want to manage the all-volunteer military. Besides being too expensive and more administratively complex than the current GI Bill, they say it would make it more difficult to retain experienced troops beyond their first hitch.

No evidently they care about our national security and still want our troops taken care of.

Webb estimates the cost of the bill as about $2 billion more than current spending, which was about $2.8 billion last year.

But the Department of Veterans Affairs estimated that an earlier version of Webb's bill, first introduced last year, would cost as much as $75 billion over the next 10 years, significantly higher Webb's projections on an annual basis.

"I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did," McCain said in a statement. "Perhaps, if Senator Obama would take the time and trouble to understand this issue he would learn to debate an honest disagreement respectfully. But, as he always does, he prefers impugning the motives of his opponent, and exploiting a thoughtful difference of opinion to advance his own ambitions. If that is how he would behave as president, the country would regret his election."

McCain is a cosponsor of a different version of the bill that would require soldiers to have more time in the service to get full benefits and to encourage them to stay in the military as a career.

I can't believe that people are willing to throw around $75,000,000,000 like that. That's enough to fend the Iraq war from now into early September. There are ways we can get around paying the huge costs though. This story is from WSCH6 in Portland. They're against what the Pentagon did, but to me it sounds like an excellent way to save money.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (NBC) -- When they came home from Iraq, 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been deployed longer than any other ground combat unit. The tour lasted 22 months and had been extended as part of President Bush's surge.

1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.

"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers."

Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days.

Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.

"Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said.

That money would help him pay for his master's degree in public administration. It would help Anderson's fellow platoon leader, John Hobot, pay for a degree in law enforcement.

"I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home," Hobot said.

Both Hobot and Anderson believe the Pentagon deliberately wrote orders for 729 days instead of 730. Now, six of Minnesota's members of the House of Representatives have asked the Secretary of the Army to look into it -- So have Senators Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman.

Klobuchar said the GI money "shouldn't be tied up in red tape," and Coleman said it's "simply irresponsible to deny education benefits to those soldiers who just completed the longest tour of duty of any unit in Iraq."

Anderson said the soldiers he oversaw in his platoon expected that money to be here when they come home.

"I had 23 guys under my command," Anderson said. "I promised to take care of them. And I'm not going to end taking care of them when this deployment is over, and it's not over until this is solved."

The Army did not respond questions Tuesday afternoon.

Senators Klobuchar and Coleman released a joint statement saying the Army secretary, Pete Geren, is looking into this personally, and they say Geren asked a review board to expedite its review so the matter could be solved by next semester.

Minnesota National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Olson said the soldiers are "victims of a significant injustice."

 

[SingingMongoose]

Obama has stated he would listen to his commanders on the ground but when Patraeus says withdrawing prematurely could have devasting effects. Obama states we need to withdraw now. I agree that's not green, that's idoitic.

Let's try this again. Were you for Iraq from the beginning? Are you for it now? And whose counsel did you trust?

No, really I don't need you to rewrite my words, the ad uses actual words spoken by Obama and Patraeus.(I'm sure everything was taken out of context though).

We must not be talking about the same ad, then. I'm referring to the Veterans for Freedom ad, which I imagine would be one of the two that "qualifies as evidence."

o things aren't improving....
http://www.upi.com/International_Se.../05/23/analysis_petraeus_upbeat_on_iraq/2999/

Yes, you've said numerous times that Petraeus thinks things are improving. What a shock, the military-industrial complex wants to keep fighting.

Honestly, I don't doubt that things are "improving." Considering what a hell-hole we've created, that just isn't saying much at all.

 

[jreeves]

Thank you for pointing out the retention rates? Don't these lie-berals get it? If returning to civillian life is pleasant for these soldiers who in their right mind would stay in Iraq? That's why it is important that we continue to underfund verterans programs like education and the VA. The more miserable life is for returning veterans the more likely we can get our soldiers to sign up for another tour.

No that's not it, if soldiers re-enlist then we can maintain experienced veterans. We do have 2 wars going on, it seems you would want experienced soldiers not newbies straight out of boot camp. You do have a good line of BS though, it only rivals Obama's rhetoric.

 

[SingingMongoose]

I can't believe that people are willing to throw around $75,000,000,000 like that. That's enough to fend the Iraq war from now into early September. There are ways we can get around paying the huge costs though. This story is from WSCH6 in Portland. They're against what the Pentagon did, but to me it sounds like an excellent way to save money.

Wait, so you think it's okay for us to recruit people under false pretenses? It's okay to promise them something and then screw them over with a loophole?

I guess it's not enough to take money from education and throw it into the military - we have to make sure that the military isn't wasting money on educating its troops, as it promised them it would!

The way we get around huge costs is to not spend money on wars we shouldn't be fighting; not send our tax money to Lockheed Martin.

 

[jreeves]

Let's try this again. Were you for Iraq from the beginning? Are you for it now? And whose counsel did you trust?

What does my feeling have to do with Obama's view of the Iraq war? Absolutely nothing, my feelings are irrelevant.

We must not be talking about the same ad, then. I'm referring to the Veterans for Freedom ad, which I imagine would be one of the two that "qualifies as evidence."
Of course we are did you see the video I posted?

Yes, you've said numerous times that Petraeus thinks things are improving. What a shock, the military-industrial complex wants to keep fighting.

Honestly, I don't doubt that things are "improving." Considering what a hell-hole we've created, that just isn't saying much at all.

It seems there is little disagreement that things are going better, hence why we can withdraw more troops than what was earlier anticipated.

 

[nibor]

It seems there is little disagreement that things are going better, hence why we can withdraw more troops than what was earlier anticipated.

My question to this would be ..........................who gets drawn down first, the Military or Black Water?

 

[Paulie]

My question to this would be ..........................who gets drawn down first, the Military or Black Water?

Well, who do you think SHOULD be drawn down first?

Blackwater is being payed many times more than the military, just for consideration's sake.

 

[nibor]

Well, who do you think SHOULD be drawn down first?

Blackwater is being payed many times more than the military, just for consideration's sake.

Is it merely a financial issue?

 

[jreeves]

My question to this would be ..........................who gets drawn down first, the Military or Black Water?

It appears that the military is being withdrawn ahead of schedule starting this fall.

 

[nibor]

It appears that the military is being withdrawn ahead of schedule starting this fall.

Well I'll be glad to see that......................but does it leave quite the conundrum?????????

 

[Paulie]

Is it merely a financial issue?

Not completely.

But if you decided it was time to start scaling down, do you scale down the private mercenary firms, much to the dismay of the lobbyists who fought so hard to put them there, and also save a lot more money (something gov. doesn't seem to care about anyway), or do you scale down the military and appease the public?

If I had to guess, I'd say military. Gov doesn't care about saving money, and military draw downs would pay dividends politically all around.

 

[nibor]

Not completely.

But if you decided it was time to start scaling down, do you scale down the private mercenary firms, much to the dismay of the lobbyists who fought so hard to put them there, and also save a lot more money (something gov. doesn't seem to care about anyway), or do you scale down the military and appease the public?

If I had to guess, I'd say military. Gov doesn't care about saving money, and military draw downs would pay dividends politically all around.

But THEN what are we to be accused of, leaving the lawless...................in our "honorable" stead?

 

[jreeves]

Well I'll be glad to see that......................but does it leave quite the conundrum?????????

why?

 

[nibor]

why?

Because from what I read, Black Water is NOT playing under international law................and IS NOT a recognized OFFICIAL FORCE!


Projecting us to the rest of the world as what.........................bigger scumbags than already thought of us!


For corporate interests................................

 

[jreeves]

Because from what I read, Black Water is NOT playing under international law................and IS NOT a recognized OFFICIAL FORCE!


Projecting us to the rest of the world as what.........................bigger scumbags than already thought of us!

Dude show facts instead of rhetoric....So now we are not supposed to use private companies?

 

[Paulie]

I kind of feel as though we SHOULD be using private mercenaries instead, with a letter of Marque & Reprisal to go along with them.

Blackwater is a bit overboard, though. Perhaps BW should be spending more time hunting the people supposedly responsible for attacking this nation though.

But not paying them a salary. We pay them a reward, for completing their task.

 

[jreeves]

I kind of feel as though we SHOULD be using private mercenaries instead, with a letter of Marque & Reprisal to go along with them.

Blackwater is a bit overboard, though. Perhaps BW should be spending more time hunting the people supposedly responsible for attacking this nation though.

But not paying them a salary. We pay them a reward, for completing their task.

We should use private companies to supplement our military. BTW this has nothing to do with the original posting?? I guess this is a way to deflect? But that seems the reoccurring tactic of many on the left.

 

[nibor]

Dude show facts instead of rhetoric....So now we are not supposed to use private companies?

No..........................it's been done wrong all along...................our limp wristed gubment has openly promoted very vile things to happen here..............and we're going to pay the price for it!

 

[nibor]

Dude show facts instead of rhetoric....So now we are not supposed to use private companies?

For facts....................pick an article.....................http://www.google.com/search?q=blac...ox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7DGUS