Rumsfeld Not Sold On a Bigger Military

[ze_dscherman]

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that he is not yet convinced of the need to increase the size of the armed forces to cope with U.S. commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

But acknowledging the strain on U.S. troops from the rise in overseas operations, Rumsfeld said he remained "open-minded" about the option of enlarging the military.

Faced with a growing discussion in military ranks and on Capitol Hill about staffing levels, Rumsfeld offered a lengthy explanation of his thinking during a Pentagon news conference. His skepticism about the need for more troops contrasted with recent comments by some senior military officers, particularly in the Army, who see a larger force as virtually inevitable in the absence of any significant reduction in overseas missions.

SNIP

"I could go on with five, six, eight, 10 more examples of places that we can use the stress on the force to get our act together, and to do a better job managing the taxpayers' money," he said. "I don't believe that anyone that I've talked to has evidence that argues that we have done those kinds of things sufficiently effectively that one could make a current case for increasing endstrength."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21684-2003Aug5.html

[wryter2000]

1. Note from Rummy....

What? You want to give me more soldiers? No thanks, I'll just eat the ones I have.

[BOSSHOG]

2. He's so "open minded"

That no active duty general would take the top Army Job and Rummy had to bring a retiree off the golf course to lead the Army. What a glowing fucking endorsement of his open mindedness.

[Kahuna]

3. Rummy has been chiseling the military from day one. He's

siphoning funds from the military for his pet SDI project. You don't think Rummy forgot about SDI just because our troops are stretched too thin do you?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. HE WANTS TO THROW MORE MONEY AT PRIVATE

MILITARY COMPANIES! MERCINARIES!!! Be afraid, no shit that is his goal!

[Solly Mack]

6. You're correct

"privatization" is his pet project and it's the new "hot" word among the brass (well, the brass that gets to keep their jobs, that is)

:hi: miss you!

[Divernan]

7. He'll hire local labor overseas - more American jobs down the toilet!

All administered through private (GOP) operators. They'll pay less than minimum wage, receive no bid contracts from the Pentagon, rake off fat profits - another trifecta! The operators will make fat campaign contribs to Bush and since all our soldiers will be in battle, a much higher percentage of them will get killed so there will be savings on veterans' benefits paid out.

[Capt_Nemo]

5. Ideology blinds neo-cons to reality... that will be their demise...

bring it on!

[VolcanoJen]

8. Dupe... locking

Although the stories are from two different sources, they are essentially the same. Please continue discussion by posting in the original, earliest thread on this topic, which can be found here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=53000&mesg_id=53000

ze_dscherman, it would be helpful if you could add your link to the Washington Post story in the other thread.

Thanks! :-)
VolcanoJen
DU Moderator