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     crosswize New member Username: crosswize Post Number: 14 Registered: 1-2007 Posted From: 70.113.57.158 |
MSNBC staff and news service reports Updated: 1:47 p.m. MT Jan 11, 2007 WASHINGTON - At a briefing to add details about President Bush's new Iraq strategy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said he would recommend increasing the Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 troops over the next five years. The cost of the troop increase would be enormous. The Army estimates that each additional 10,000 soldiers costs it about $1.2 billion a year. That does not include the cost of equipment needed for the additional soldiers. Including indirect costs, such as equipment, the troop increase could add $15 billion or more to the annual defense budget, some analysts estimated. Expanding the Army and Marine Corps, which have been strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, also will put more demands on their recruiting services, which have struggled in recent years to attract people during time of war. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was also at the White House briefing, saying it was imperative for the Iraqi government to "re-establish civil order," particularly in Baghdad. Gates said that to ease the strain on U.S. forces in Iraq, he would have to cycle some National Guard and reserve units back to the war zone faster than current Pentagon policy, which is to mobilize those units for a year after at least five years of being inactive. Gates said today’s “global demands” made that change necessary, but said it would “allow us to move closer to removing the stress on the total force.” An internal Army document obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday said that without more frequent use of Guard and reserve forces through remobilization of units that already have served in Iraq, “we will break” the active-duty Army. Testfiying later before the House Armed Services Committee, Gates said he did not know how long additional troops would have to remain in Iraq, but that he thought it would be months, not years. “I don’t think anybody has a definite idea of how long a surge would last,” Gates said, referring to the troop increase. “I think for most of us in our minds we’re thinking of it as a matter of months, not 18 months or two years.” “We clearly will know as I indicated I think within a couple of months or so whether this strategy is beginning to bear fruit,” he said. Gates said the extra U.S. troops would be sent in in waves and indicated they might not all go if the Iraqi government did not keep its end of the bargain. Proposal numbers Gates proposed adding 67,000 Army soldiers and 25,000 Marines, citing an annual increase of 7,000 for the Army and 5,000 for the Marines until the Marines reach 202,000 and the Army is at 547,000 troops. Bush said last month that he would propose extra troops for the armed forces. The Army already has been authorized to boost the number of active-duty soldiers temporarily from 482,000 to a maximum of 512,000, although it has yet to reach that limit. Gates said it remains unclear how long the “temporary” U.S. military buildup ordered by Bush in Iraq will last, adding that "failure in Iraq is not an option." He said the United States should know pretty soon whether Iraqis were living up to their part of the deal and increasing their own forces. Gates spoke as the Bush administration worked to persuade a skeptical Democratic-led Congress to accept Bush’s troop buildup as the last best chance for reversing Iraq’s slide. The Senate’s top Republican threatened a filibuster to block any legislation expressing disapproval of the plan. “Obviously, it will ... require 60 votes,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. | ||
| crosswize New member Username: crosswize Post Number: 15 Registered: 1-2007 Posted From: 70.113.57.158 |
Intel chief: Hezbollah may be next U.S. threat Al-Qaida still worst, but other group may be increasing plans against U.S WASHINGTON - Al-Qaida poses the gravest terrorist threat to the United States, and an emboldened Hezbollah is a growing danger, the U.S. intelligence chief said Thursday. In his annual review of global threats, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte highlighted an increasingly worrisome assessment of Hezbollah — backed by Iran and Syria — since its 34-day war with Israel last year. “As a result of last summer’s hostilities, Hezbollah’s self-confidence and hostility toward the United States as a supporter of Israel could cause the group to increase its contingency planning against United States interests,” Negroponte told the Senate Intelligence Committee. He depicted a more multifaceted terrorist threat than in years past. Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. spy agencies have stressed the threat from al-Qaida and associated Sunni extremist groups, rather than from Hezbollah and other Shiite Muslim groups. Hezbollah has a global fundraising network but has not directly attacked U.S. interests in years. It was responsible for the 1983 bombings of the U.S. Embassy and the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed hundreds of American servicemen. The group’s Saudi wing, in coordination with the larger Lebanese Hezbollah, is blamed for the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia in 1996. A separate report by a government task force predicted that attacks against America and its allies probably would increase in the next few years because terrorists’ intentions have not diminished and their methods are “very nimble and very complex.” The panel said al-Qaida is a diminished organization overall with a core that is “resilient and in some respects resurgent,” according to the chairman, former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind. Iraq at ‘precarious juncture’ Negroponte said Iraq is at a “precarious juncture” and the Baghdad government needs to establish secular institutions that can bridge sectarian differences. The flow of weapons and fighters from Iran and Syria in support of Shiites must be stemmed, he said, and al-Qaida in Iraq must be stopped. The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency painted a picture of unchecked bloodshed in Iraq that has led more people to turn to sectarian groups for their basic needs and threatened the country’s unity. Robust criminal networks are exacerbating the situation, Lt. Gen. Michael Maples said. Al-Qaida is America’s top concern among terrorist groups, he said. Osama bin Laden’s network maintains active connections “that radiate outward from their leaders’ secure hide-out in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, northern Africa and Europe,” Negroponte said. Conventional explosives are the “most probable” means of attack from the group, he said, but there are reports al-Qaida is trying to obtain chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16582063/ | ||
| fullofquestions Intermediate Member Username: fullofquestions Post Number: 140 Registered: 1-2007 Posted From: 70.57.32.25 |
I don't think it will come to that. | ||
| crosswize New member Username: crosswize Post Number: 17 Registered: 1-2007 Posted From: 70.113.57.158 |
The Military Draft By Ken Adachi <editor> http://educate-yourself.org/cn/draftindex.shtml Feb. 3, 2004 A mandatory draft is coming and it will come soon. Make no mistake about it. If you have a 'specialty' field such as health care worker or even computer skills (such as a degree in computer science), you could be 'drafted' into government service up to the age limit of 44 years old. You will have no choice in the matter as the Presidential Executive Order has already been signed and has become the "law", without the messy annoyance of congressional voting or debate, of course. The new age limit of conscription will also be pushed up to 36 years (update: June 2006. now changed to 42 years ) of age, not 26 years as was the traditional limit. They have now tied in Selective Service Registration with applying for a driver's licence in some 34 states so far. One of the articles below touches on staying out of the military based on a claim of Conscientious Objector, but you should explore every possible idea to stay out of the Meat Grinder, not just this traditional technique. Once you're in the military, you're in and you can't do a damn thing about. It's a lot harder to get out or avoid being shot once you're standing on foreign soil wearing your battle gear and your spiffy Nazi style steel helmet taking orders from Sargeant Gung Ho. Even if you register as a Conscientious Objector, you've still registered. They have your name and all your other vital info in order to seek you out. You also need to explore your avoidance options BEFORE they pull off another staged 'terrorist' attack and close the borders and airports. I voluntarily joined the military many years ago and thought it was the right thing to do. I felt good about it and told others that it was a good way to grow up and see the world. At the time, of course, I thought that the government was legit, that the U.S. was the "good guy" of the world, and that we were 'maintaining the peace' and preventing the spread of communism and all of that brainwashing crap that they keep feeding us, generation after generation. Now I know better. The government is in the hands of satanic, globalist traitors who are following a script to destroy America and its people (from within & without), in order to decimate the only country remaining that could (or would) offer any real opposition to the one world government takeover. You have to be careful when visiting government web sites from your home computer. They undoubtedly keep record of anyone who visits their sites. If you are a person looking to avoid the draft, you are notifying them that you are interested in this topic, along with your computer ID, etc. Even the Conscientious Objector web sites listed below may be covert operations to gather information on draft resisters. One has no way of knowing for sure, so it's better to go to a library or Internet cafe to visit these sites, or use the home computer of a person who is beyond draft age. http://educate-yourself.org/cn/draftindex.shtml | ||
| fullofquestions Intermediate Member Username: fullofquestions Post Number: 192 Registered: 1-2007 Posted From: 70.57.32.25 |
Glad I'm older. Huh | ||
| crosswize New member Username: crosswize Post Number: 24 Registered: 1-2007 Posted From: 70.113.57.158 |
Well, Im not and my son is preparing for Iraq in an August deployment. |
