Is Bush Trying To Break Our Army ?

First Bush blunders in Afghanistan by pulling out soldiers before the job was done. Now the Taliban is making a comeback there. Then he blunders again by invading Iraq, even though it posed no danger to our country. After that, he blunders the rebuilding effort in Iraq by putting inexperienced and incompetent people in charge. Finally, he blunders again by misjudging the situation in Iraq and leaving our soldiers in the middle of a civil war.

I'm tempted to wonder whether this fool can do anything without blundering. Then I realize that there is one thing he's doing exceptionally well. He's doing a great job of breaking our Army!

Bush and his incompetent war planners initially thought they would have an easy victory in Iraq and be thanked by a cheering populace. What fools! Anyone who has looked at the Middle East should have known that was wishful thinking.

When things went south in Iraq, a 12 month rotation was established for soldiers. Then it got worse and the troop rotation was lengthened to 15 months. Now it looks like some troops may be there even longer, and other troops will be sent back without sufficient recuperative time at home.

Army Chief of Staff General George Casey had bad news for soldiers and their families as he toured Fort Bliss today. He was asked if he could guarantee that troop rotations would not exceed 15 months, and replied, "I had that same question from the families today and what I told them was I can't guarantee that it won't go beyond 15 months. However, I am personally concerned about the impact on the soldiers operating in that environment, of asking them to stay there longer than 15 months."

He is right to be concerned. Just the psychological stress of asking the soldiers to stay past 15 months puts them in much greater danger. No one can stay at the top of their game in a seemingly unending situation.

Add this to the fact of the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan, and the fact that the Army has fallen short of recruitment goals for the last two months, and you get a picture of an Army that is breaking down. And it's Bush's fault. He has asked them to do too much with too little.

Our troops have been placed in a no-win situation in Iraq. We must get our soldiers out of this never-ending quagmire before we destroy the effectiveness of our military. The military is supposed to be for the defense of our country, but how will they be able to fulfill that noble mission if Bush breaks them in a futile effort in Iraq?

Since Bush is determined to continue this disastrous policy in Iraq, it is time for the American people to demand that Congress do its job and force Bush to stop. We must withdraw our troops from Iraq immediately. There is no rational alternative.