Army brass orders commanders to prepare cuts

[LeighAnn]

Source: AP via WNCT-TV, Raleigh, South Carolina

As the war spending bill languishes in a dispute between the White House and Congress, Army brass are getting ready for the day the money runs out.

In a four-page memo, the Army vice chief of staff tells top officers at all Army bases to develop plans to use troops to replace civilians and contractors who may have to be laid off in late February.

That's when money from maintenance and operations funds now being used to fight the wars will run out, unless Congress acts.

The memo designates that all military personnel other than those preparing to go to the war zones should be considered available as the substitutes for civilians.


Read more: http://www.wnct.com/midatlantic/nct/news/US.apx.-content-articles-NCT-2007-11-28-0017.html

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[Robbien]

1. Just another step in the propaganda war.

Commander in Chief to Army Brass, have your guys do some busy work which we can use to bully the dumb Dems into giving us a blank check.

[EST]

2. You're correct, but this is one of those times, hopefully to become

more the rule than the exception, when propaganda resembles reality. They actually do have to make some plans for that eventuality, but we can be assured the bush junta will be making hay of the circumstances.

[bluestateguy]

3. A $460 billion budget is not enough?

Only the US Pentagon could be such gluttonous spenders.

[saigon68]

13. Pigs at the trough

[flamin lib]

4. I'm sorry, but the military is supposed to be self sufficient. They aren't

supposed to rely on some fucking contract employee. It's all supposed to be done by military personnel: cooking, laundry, MRO, logistics and everything that it takes to make an army function.

Why is it that we spend more money on "defense" than the rest of the world combined and not have armor and drinkable water for the guys in the field? Because we pay Halliburton ten times more to do the stuff the army used to do for itself.

[Maq]

8. Labor Ready is cheaper than Halliburton

Does the Pentagon know that?

[JHB]

14. Halliburton gives bigger campaign contributions than Labor Ready

You can bet Congress knows that!

[kineneb]

5. time to dip into that "Black Budget"

the one that is "off the books"...

[rcsl1998]

6. Mr. Bush, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE MONEY?

Every Democrat and progressive should be repeating this refrain over and over and over non-stop!

[bemildred]

7. A transparent attempt to blackmail Congress.

Not the first time, either.

[mike_c]

9. good-- maybe then the lie that the "troops will be abandoned..."

...or whatever will be exposed. There is plenty of money in the regular DoD appropriation for an orderly withdrawal from Iraq.

Not one more dime for the war against Iraq!

[noamnety]

10. If they hadn't misplaced so much money

they wouldn't be running out quite so quickly.

Did they ever charge anyone for that $9 billion that went missing?

[boricua79]

11. This sentence was interesting

"In a four-page memo, the Army vice chief of staff tells top officers at all Army bases to develop plans to use troops to replace civilians and contractors who may have to be laid off in late February."

That's what they did in such conflicts as World War II and others. Four things

1) We'll save the taxpayer a hell of a lot of wasted, corrupt, no-bid contract money

2) We'll eliminate the development of more military-industrial complex-promotion fushion of capitalist civilian industries working to fulfill the needs of military occupations. Nobody should profit war...and that also includes employees who look the other way to the fact that their job is helping to prop up illegal, violent, brutal wars and war-crimes. The "it's just my job" or "I was ordered to" excuses just don't hold up after Nuremberg.

3) Promote the development of a more self-sustaining army, which will make it a priority for the Pentagon to train its military personnel to higher standards (to able to fulfill all the tasks that civilian contractors are now doing), thereby making it harder to have a larger active force necessary for empire building and empire maintenance. A strong, yet compact DEFENSE force should be the focus. We do not need the sprawling empire of military bases around the world.

4) Maybe the troops will finally GET IT that they're expendable, movable, grunts...useful for combat one day, and useful for cleaning toilets the other. At least that is how they're being treated now with stop-loss, back-door drafts, and no benefit veteran status. Maybe it will also make it UNATTRACTIVE to join the Army in a time of Republican rule. Kinda makes those "be all you can be" commercials ring hollow. <they've always rang hollow to me...but then, I had parents who actually took the time to teach me about this country's real history. I don't goosestep for ANYONE.>

Maybe i'm just not patriotic...but anything that undercuts the Imperial Army, it's normal functioning, it's recruitment propaganda, and by extension, the reach and power of the United States to do so much harm around the world is fine by me. If it would only use its power for its own affairs and stay out of others....one can dream.

<extra: I just finished watching V for Vendetta...god I love that movie>

[Sirveri]

12. As someone serving in the US Navy right now.

Trust me, I know exactly how worthless my existance is. I'm trained to do something that requires a substantial ammount of theoretical knowledge and skill and understanding, yet I spend all day cleaning and painting. I guess that 200k dollars worth of training is certainly being put to good use.