US running short of reserve troops: report

[Crunchy Frog]

The United States military may run out of national guard and reserve troops for the war on terrorism because of existing limits on involuntary mobilisations, a congressional watchdog agency warned in a report released overnight (AEST).

Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the US Government has considered changing the policy to make members of the 1.2 million-strong guard and reserve subject to repeated involuntary mobilisation, so long as no single mobilisation exceeds 24 consecutive months.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1200173.htm

This is my first time posting a story, so please let me know if I violated any rules or did anything wrong.

[leftchick]

1. Time to bring up DemsWillWin's Thread on the Draft.....

which WILL happen if AWol* is installed again! Check this out...

<"If DOD's implementation of the partial mobilisation authority restricts the cumulative time that reserve component forces can be mobilised, then it is possible that DOD will run out of forces.">

[amber dog democrat]

2. "Uncle Sam ain't no woman, but he sure can take your man"

That will learn em not to trust the governement to act in their best interest.

If this mess in Iraq slides further into an unstoppable insurgency, who in their right mind is going to voluntarly enlist? Well maybe a few.

I say, lets get if over with and strat up a draft.

[Skittles]

3. hey, in yo' profile it is country, not county

:D

by the way, I lived in South Austin for 17 years. :thumbsup:

[amber dog democrat]

12. cool - yeah we are still here.

but that may change when my duaghter is out of highschool.

I am certain the typo in my profile is a forgery. We'll look into it.
Where did you live ? I am 2 blocks North of Barton Sprints and 1 Block West of Lamar.
:)

[Skittles]

16. I lived around the S. Lamar/Manchaca interersection

I saw the best of Austin - 70's and 80's; I'm shocked by what I see when I return there now - it's becoming Dallas-like. I spent my first four years at Bergstrom AFB (now the Austin Airport).

[amber dog democrat]

17. Its a lost cause here time to join the Joads headn for Grapes of Wrath

When I see " Keep Austin Wired" stikers on cars or 78704 Its a way of life...
I know it is getting time to leave. Never though I would miss the hookers and drug addicts. Gentrified yuppies seem worse somehow.

I am thinking Anchoraqe Alaska or ..... Juneau . or Wake Island.

I came here in 72 after I got out of the Navy and no longer care for Ausitn that much.

There are times I feel I could be just as happy in Wichita Falls. ( or WACO )

But it was fun while it lasted. You were here for the best of it. Its all been sliced and diced and gentrfied over a bed of braised gridlock. Having the tech boom die did not help either. But that could be a good thing too.

Where are you now, over ?

[Skittles]

20. f***ing Plano, on top of Dallas

corporate, republican, phony greedy selfish soul-less hell

[AndyTiedye]

13. No Draft! NO NO NO!

> I say, lets get if over with and strat up a draft.

If you give Boosh an unlimited supply of cannon fodder
he'll invade Iran and Syria (and who knows where else)
before you can say "Crusade", and still have plenty of
troops for martial law here.

It won't be so much a draft as a hurricane, that will grab up
everyone who doesn't have some juice politically. I wouldn't
count too heavily on the age limits either. They have managed
to call up 67-year-old reservists for this mess.

Boosh has horribly abused every other power he has been given.
We can expect the same if he is given the authority to conscript
American citizens.

IT'S GETTING DRAFTY -- CLOSE THE WAR!

[amber dog democrat]

14. I don't believe there is a will to support more of Emperor Caligula's

military misadventures, not unless we want to plung the whole world into chaos.

But hey, if it brings on the Rapture, then who are we to say otherwise ?

I think a draft would lead to impeachment.

[Roy Robertson]

18. I say, let's get it over with and pull out NOW!

We can't even say WHY we invaded and occupied that country!

If country A wants to invade and occupy country B, then wouldn't you think that at the very least,
a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes???

We should get the hell out, NOW!

[amber dog democrat]

19. Hi Roy. Welcom to DU !!

I honestly believe this is the most shameful war in US history, maybe worse than the genocide of the indigenious native Americans - maybe. At least we are not leaving blankets infected with small pos in Falluja yet.

Yup we have people killing and dying for ambigious reasons.

This clusterfuck was not worth ONE American or Iraqi life.

If I were to draw analogies I would say this is coming to look allot like Stalingrad,
Dien Bien Phu, or Custer's Last Stand. Its about as well thought out as any of those campaigns.

It can't go on for a whole lot longer. :(

[Dhalgren]

4. It looks good Crunchy, but

then I am not a member of Caligula's Imperial Republican Guard - they might not like your first post, at all (let's hope they don't, heh, heh)

According to the best estimates there have been over 24,000 US casualties (dead and wounded) so far. I don't think that the military had any contingencies for that kind of loss rate. The US is in a world of hurt right now and no one seems to give a good damn. I do not understand how or why Amerikans can be so unconcerned over the loss of all these soldiers. I know that Amerikans don't give a damn about foreign darkies, but their own boys? I just don't get it...

[cliss]

9. This is something that has puzzled me for a long time

At some point, it became apparent that we were in this mess pretty much by ourselves. The UK has a large contingent, but the rest are just "token" troops from the "coalition".

As the list of fatalities kept going up, the list of wounded was much higher. This was kept out of the press. I kept wondering when something would be done about the large number of dead and wounded. Nothing. Just business as usual.

We have over 1,000 dead and 23,000 wounded (which means they can't fight any longer). Out of a total of 144,000 troops, that represents 17%, a huge number. We've only been at this for over a year. That means we only have 120,000 left.

If we keep this up, next year we will only have 96,000 left. The following year, only 72,000. You get the picture. I'm not including new replacements, because I don't know what those figures are. Either way though, this whole thing is a disaster. RumsFailed is such a fool.

[gratuitous]

10. And the UK's contingent isn't all that large

When Poland announced they've had enough, they will be taking the second largest troop numbers with them. I don't recall the exact numbers from the article that was posted at the time, but I was more than a little surprised that it was Poland and not our pals in England that had sent the most troops to Iraq. England's contingent is in the low four figures, I believe.

And what is Mr. Bush doing about this? Besides campaigning relentlessly, I mean. Isn't he being paid to work on things like this, instead he's out gadding around the country, speaking before hand-picked audiences of loyal supporters. Does he even know? Because otherwise, I would have to conclude that he doesn't care about the troops he so cavalierly sent into battle last year.

[AndyTiedye]

15. Most Americans Do Not Know How Many Casualties There Have Been

> I do not understand how or why Amerikans can be so unconcerned over
> the loss of all these soldiers. I know that Amerikans don't give a
> damn about foreign darkies, but their own boys? I just don't get it...

The media does not talk about casualties, so most Americans don't know
there have been so many.

[trogdor]

5. As long as you put the headline in verbatim, you're golden.

Not using entire articles? - check.
Providing links? - check.

You're good to go. :-)

[Crunchy Frog]

8. Good,

I guess I've learn something from reading this place for the last year and a half.:D

[Catfight]

6. Didn't I read last week that Cheney said there was no shortage and

people were signing up every day for the Reserves?

[Yavin4]

7. You're Taking The Word Of A Man That Confused

Osama Bin Laden with Saddam Huessein in a press conference last week?

[leftchick]

11. I think that was rummy the dummy....

cheney is stuck on the saddam/911 thingy.

[Just Me]

21. BUSH '04 = DRAFT '05

Be prepared to spend your children and grandchildren,...and their children on the leadership in love with provoking THE FINAL WAR (freakin' crazies,...*sigh*,...how did we let them out of their padded rooms).

[Roy Robertson]

22. Isn't Bush subject to "involuntary recall"???

He hasn't completed his 6-year obligation yet, so he must still be subject to recall, right? And if he loses his job
while he's gone, well, sometimes you have to make sacrifices, right?

Of course he could volunteer. That would be a great campaign move. I wonder if Karl Rove has suggested it?...

Right.