TRANSFORMATION VS. DRAFT?

In the debate, President Bush just talked about mil­i­tary “trans­for­ma­tion” as a way to keep a draft at bay. By replac­ing troops with equip­ment, includ­ing unmanned aer­ial vehi­cles, the U.S. can pull forces from Europe and North Korea, Bush argued.
But does that have a thing to do with the draft? Not really. Sure, sev­enty thou­sand troops might be rede­ployed — even­tu­ally, if Bush’s plan ever comes to pass. But it’s going to take years to make that hap­pen. Right now, it’s painfully appar­ent that more troops are needed on the ground in Iraq this sec­ond.
Anyway, trans­for­ma­tion isn’t why the Pentagon wants to rede­ploy troops away from Europe and Korea. Changing polit­i­cal real­i­ties are. The Cold War is over, so we don’t need as many sol­diers pro­tect­ing Germany from Russia. The troops in South Korea have long been viewed as lit­tle more than a trip-​​wire, in case Kim Jung Il decides to invade. Now, with the South Koreans seem­ing increas­ingly sick of hav­ing our G.I.s there, maybe it’s time to pull ‘em back.
THERE’S MORE: Garrrrrrr!!!! Jeez, President Bush just pulled out his best Howard Dean imi­ta­tion, scream­ing at Charlie Gibson. WTF?
AND MORE: The Patriot Act hasn’t watered down anyone’s rights, accord­ing to the President. Oh, yeah?

October 8th, 2004 | Uncategorized | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.