Kerry Criticizes With No Real Alternative
The Washington Post reports on Kerry's criticizing Bush's plan to reorganize our troops stationed around the world.
I believe that this redistribution is long overdue. The United States is in the process of rethinking how it handles military conflicts and how to be the most effective with the least number of troops. The stationing of massive amounts of troops at bases around the world worked well for the Cold War, but we're fighting against a different kind of enemy. This enemy is international and can strike anywhere in the world. I heard an interview on the radio over a month ago and I wish I could remember what program and who was being interviewed. The man being interviewed was very high up in the command of the Army. I'll see if I can't track down the person who was speaking and the radio program. He essentially said, when asked if we have enough in the Army to do the jobs required of it, that we have plenty of people in the Army. The problem is that Army personnel are too specialized and are often left home when there is a conflict that doesn't require their specialty. They are going through a restructuring of how the Army does things. Their goal is to train troops in an array of skills and have them much more easily be shipped to where they are need quickly. This seems to be what Bush's plan is. They're going to make them into a leaner meaner fighting force that can be used anywhere in the world and they don't require the maintenance of a huge number of bases scattered all over the world. This is forward thinking. This is what we need in a Commander-In-Chief.
UPDATE: Blogsforbush.com Shows that this is actually a flip flop from a mere 17 days ago. Kerry's only position is the position opposite Bush's position!
UPDATE: Generation Y has some good comments about the flip flop as well.
"Why are we withdrawing troops from Korea at a time when we are negotiating with North Korea -- a country that really has nuclear weapons?," he asked.
Kerry, making frequent references to his own military service in Vietnam and his membership in the VFW, said, "Nobody wants to bring troops home more than those of us who have fought in foreign wars. But it needs to be done at the right time and in the right way.
"This is not the right time," he said. "The president's plan does not strengthen our hand in the war on terror" and "it in no way relieves the strain" on today's military.
I believe that this redistribution is long overdue. The United States is in the process of rethinking how it handles military conflicts and how to be the most effective with the least number of troops. The stationing of massive amounts of troops at bases around the world worked well for the Cold War, but we're fighting against a different kind of enemy. This enemy is international and can strike anywhere in the world. I heard an interview on the radio over a month ago and I wish I could remember what program and who was being interviewed. The man being interviewed was very high up in the command of the Army. I'll see if I can't track down the person who was speaking and the radio program. He essentially said, when asked if we have enough in the Army to do the jobs required of it, that we have plenty of people in the Army. The problem is that Army personnel are too specialized and are often left home when there is a conflict that doesn't require their specialty. They are going through a restructuring of how the Army does things. Their goal is to train troops in an array of skills and have them much more easily be shipped to where they are need quickly. This seems to be what Bush's plan is. They're going to make them into a leaner meaner fighting force that can be used anywhere in the world and they don't require the maintenance of a huge number of bases scattered all over the world. This is forward thinking. This is what we need in a Commander-In-Chief.
UPDATE: Blogsforbush.com Shows that this is actually a flip flop from a mere 17 days ago. Kerry's only position is the position opposite Bush's position!
UPDATE: Generation Y has some good comments about the flip flop as well.
posted by Josh Ferguson at 8/18/2004 10:56:00 AM
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