Senate Votes to Add 20,000 Troops to Army

[GreenPartyVoter]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Defying the Bush administration, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to add 20,000 troops to an Army stretched thin by the war in Iraq and other commitments around the world.

The 93-4 vote in the Republican-led Senate - following a similar action by the House - reflected the anxieties lawmakers have been hearing from families of service personnel whose tours in Iraq keep getting extended and whose return to civilian life is repeatedly postponed.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the lack of troops at the end of major combat in Iraq cost the military an opportunity to stop the violence that continues today.

"We didn't have enough people on the ground, and now we are paying a very, very heavy price for that incredible mistake on the part of the civilian leadership in the Pentagon of the United States of America," he said.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20040618/D8395MEG0.html

[uptown ruler]

1. i wonder...

where are they going to get these 20,000? btw, my draft board member application came in the mail this week. i suggest signing up online to receive your application as well. its a 20 year commitment, but who is counting.



ScrutinyHooligans

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Welcome to DU. :^) So tell me

what exactly would I do as a member of a draft board? And is it town by town or county by county or what?

[PaDUer]

6. Letter received after submitting application...

Dear XXXXX

The Standby Local Boards are the heart of the revitalized Selective Service System and a very critical element in our national preparedness mission. Thank you for your interest in serving as a member of a Selective Service Local Board in the state of PA.

We are constantly recruiting individuals to fill potential openings in Local Boards. We will retain your application for future consideration for this prestigious position.

Your willingness to serve as a volunteer Local Board Member is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Thomas G. White
Region Director

[CWebster]

3. It used to be called

"escalation".

[Hubert Flottz]

4. I remember that!

They just change the name from one war to the next!

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Yeah, I guess it was, wasn't it.

[PaDUer]

7. See post # 6...n/t

[Bandit]

8. One thing about it if the draft is reinstated you will have to send kids

off to the military to die. You want that on your conscience?

[PaDUer]

9. kick..n/t

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

10. I want to echo the question above

where the hell are they going to get the 20,000? No matter what the right wing echo chamber says, recruitment rates are down, WAY down. I know.

[AlCzervik]

11. Maybe the troops they are pulling

from So. Korea will make up for some of it, i've also read that they will draw down troops in Europe and send them to Iraq.