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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: James H who wrote (8910)	12/14/2000 10:12:20 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

I guess I get a little touchy when people start talking about the military, getting too old Don't feel bad James... I get touchy as well, and I didn't suffer nearly as much of a sacrifice serving in the military as many folks I know who lost families and wives to divorce, due to their extended absences. But if you are interested in following the "inside" track with whats occurring in the current military system, I would recommend subscribing to the Soldiers for The Truth email letter. Lots of valuable info they put out about how military effectiveness has suffered under the current administration. Here's one example of the commentaries they have: sftt.org ARTICLE 1 – “Through Zman’s Gun Sight” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Learning To let Go ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By R.W. (Zimm) Zimmermann President Soldiers For The Truth 12/11/00 For over three decades we’ve pestered our European allies to pull their share in their common defense. Now, that they are willing to step up with a 60,000 man reaction corps, we’re getting cold feet. Why is a European rapid reaction force such threat to NATO or us? First, we seem just plain afraid of a united Europe as a major competitor for our arms industry and second, despite our talk about the one-sided defense burdens and the painful deployments for our forces, our leaders really want to continue to play #1 Superpower and world cop. As an American who has served abroad and who has attended European schools and knows the culture and languages, I dare tell you that our leaders are also misreading young Europeans as much as they are misunderstanding our own generation X. I have had great opportunities to work with European troops in the field and I was actually impressed. I exchanged units and equipment with Panzer Battalion 153 in Koblenz during several exercises and learned more about small unit leadership and training realism than during my branch schools. The officers lived on their tanks, the Panzers crossed bridges in the middle of the night with half the fuss we made and when they shot gunnery, it wasn’t only for the report card. During one foggy gunnery day at Baumholder, I overheard a German Lieutenant request a delay because he couldn’t identify his targets. The company commander quickly reminded him that he was in combat and told him to find the enemy. He learned risk taking. In a similar situation at Grafenwoehr, my own chain of command crapped their pants and we stayed on safety “fogwatch” all day so we could shoot for the perfect efficiency report scores. I can only say the same about the Brits, who I worked with at the end of Desert Storm. They were expert field soldiers who knew the tanking business as well as we did. During Desert Storm, the French Foreign legion tankers actually had the only laser-safe dust goggles and we were able to trade some from them. So much for our equipment superiority! They were excellent troops as well. I would gladly serve with my European combat counterparts and their field leaders. Most are highly competent officers and NCOs and much less driven by the desire to become fast track generals than our brass. America, the country of the future and opportunity shouldn’t dwell on Western Europe’s past but steer it into the future. We’ve done a tremendous job rebuilding former allies and enemies in our own democratic image but just like proud parents, we should encourage Europeans to become political and military grown-ups. And yes, they’ll make mistakes. I see a future Europe that includes London, Paris, Berlin and Moscow. Yes, Russia with her vast natural resources can become an important player in the more distant future. Russia is key for the pacification of the east and to balance the Chinese wild card. NATO will continue as a strategic entity for large-scale military and humanitarian operations, involving the common interests of Europe and the US. The United States could actually become a strategic quarterback with only residual forces in Europe. We could refocus on bigger issues: China, Korea and the Middle East. America’s main commitment to allied operations would mainly be superior air power and naval/amphibious forces. This requires maintaining several airfields and combined port facilities. We would also keep one ground brigade in Europe and possibly pre-positioned equipment for another. For emergency planning, we’d keep staffs in NATO to use European bases as the staging ground for an army corps and to coordinate combined naval and air operations. America’s main strength is and will be our technological and economic power and the creativity to build things that other people desire. That ensures our future influence on Europe and the rest of the world. As people of the future, we must give young Europeans a chance to overcome their past. Young Germans of today didn’t run concentration camps, young Frenchmen didn’t screw up in Indochina and young Brits didn’t fight the Revolutionary War against us. Young Americans, Frenchmen, Brits, Germans and other Europeans X-ers can forge a common future and defy the Cold Warriors. They must take responsibility as guardians of a greater western democratic ideal by complementing each other to maintain the peace against those who don’t yet embrace democracy. That includes mutual trust and a willingness to fight for it shoulder to shoulder. © R.W. Zimmermann, LandserUSA rrzimm@gateway.net