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The Wright Perspective℠
Social Commentary from the C-Suite to Main Street℠
A Blog by Gary Wright II
US finally uses the "D" word (draft) and "the end" is near!
Friday, October 26th, 2007
First, the US forced military members to serve beyond their rotation period. Then they used a back-door draft to activate the Independent Ready Reserves (IRR) which consists of military personnel that have completed their initial obligation to serve on active duty.
Today, I finally heard the D-word used for the first time. Since no one will volunteer to willingly to serve at the US embassy in Iraq, they are drafting hundreds of diplomats. To allow them to get their affairs in order, they were graciously given ten days to respond (cynical sarcasm here, if you can't tell). If they refuse to serve, they face disciplinary action for not keeping their oath to serve the country.
The US needs to fill 50 positions by January, but because of attrition (and death) they drafted 300 diplomats just to be sure. The last time something like this happened? Vietnam. What did we say Iraq would not turn into? Another Vietnam.
The US military has been stretched way beyond their breaking point, especially for an all volunteer force. Who would be stupid or desperate enough to volunteer now? If you do the math, we will have to come out of Iraq by April. We simply do not have the personnel or supplies to stay beyond that point.
A bigger crime is that no preparations have been made for when our veterans come home. It takes years just to get into the VA system, months to see a doctor once your in the system, and you probably won't even see a good doctor. The mental health care should be the first priority of people coming home, yet no additional staff has been hired for the already overloaded system. We teach our soldiers to kill, but who is going to teach them to not kill? They are not fighting in a jungle somewhere, they are fighting in an urban setting. When they come back - where will they be; in a jungle or in another urban setting? There is no way for them to escape the stress triggers that will surround them. They will always be nervous when walking down the street, and will constantly be in a paranoid state. It isn't their fault.
Turkey is massing troops at the Iraq border, and there probably will be a Kurdish land grab soon. It is too expensive to build up troops like that if you don't intend to use them.
Iran is being "defiant", and they have every right to be. I would expect that situation to reach it's boiling point very soon.
Last month a nuclear processing facility was just wiped off the earth in Syria. I haven't heard anyone take credit for that yet. The building structure was the exact same size and construction of one is China. They even build a pumping station on the banks of the Euphrates to provide cooling water to the structure.
This millennium will belong to China, as they are entering their own industrial revolution. The US went through one, so it isn't fair to tell other countries they can't have one. Just in the past few years they have zoomed past the US in many respects.
Another hot topic is the proposed missile defense system that Bush says is so urgent. He says it is purely for defense, but don't buy his bullshit. Here's why: If it were truly for defense, why isn't a collaborative effort with the countries that have much more to lose. If the threat was from Iran / Iraq, why will we not let Russia participate? Further proof is that a missile base is no longer needed. We can ship Patriot missile batteries to the places that need protection. The US also has nuclear submarines and Aegis destroyers that can sit in the gulf and capably defend the region against any air, surface, or subsurface attacks. Putin isn't buying our story, and I can't blame him. Our "coalition of the willing" has turned into a "coalition of the raped" because we knowingly and purposely have misled them. Our allies are not going to go anywhere near this mess. The US has reignited the Cold War - but this time it's going to get really hot.
Pakistan has been aiding the terrorists the whole time. Their president told Bhutto that if she comes home, she better not do it right now. What happened? They blew up the whole damn caravan yet still did not kill her.
So here's where we are at right now: Our education system has failed, our health system is dying, our political system is fixed (see American Blackout documentary for proof), our all-volunteer military is ruined, and the middle class has disappeared as the "rich get richer and the poor get poorer." If our Social Security system stopped taking applications today, they would still have a 5 year caseload. People who are disabled can't wait five years to receive assistance. I don't think any of us would survive five years without any pay.
Does money really matter? In the US it surely does. Not to lessen the tragedy of the California fires, but we are tripping all over ourself to help them while the whole state of Louisiana hasn't recovered from Hurricane Katrina and that happened years ago. How can one state get aid within a few hours, while another state's aid is being measured in years. The wealthy have moved happily back to the Big Easy, while the poorer people have been treated like outcasts.
I think Cheney, Bush, and everyone else in charge of this mess should have been hanged from a noose right next to Saddam. If anyone is guilty of war crimes, it is the leadership of the United States.
The final proof that the US is corrupt beyond repair? Why would someone running for office spend millions of dollars to get a job that only pays a hundred thousand dollars?
'Nuff said!
God Bless America - cause we sure do need it!