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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (27304)	2/1/2004 4:02:04 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793931

I'm sure there were SOME incidents since the draft pulled in SOME soldiers who should never have been placed in a situation that required self constraint. That is unsubstantiated speculation...exactly what Kerry was doing to congress. That's why the switch was made to an all-volunteer army. Not true. Kerry had nothing to do with ending the draft. He was an unknown when that debate occurred. The switch was made because volunteers were overrunning the the active and reserve Armed Forces. The switch to an all-volunteer Army was well underway when Kerry gave that speech. The initial pay raises had begun. Substantial re-enlistment bonuses were in place and draft inductments had already begun to drop...and ceased all together over the following two years. In SecDef Laird's "One Force" concept letter, published in 1970, the year before Kerry's speech, Laird stipulates "increased reliance on the combat and combat support units of the Guard and Reserves." The debate about the draft ended in 1970 when... "in less than two pages of single-spaced text, Laird articulated a means of establishing that "Guard and Reserve units and individuals of the Selected Reserves will be prepared to be the initial and primary source for augmentation of the active forces in any future emergency requiring a rapid and substantial expansion of the active forces." With the groundwork done and the reserve equipment systems scheduled to come on line, in 1971, Nixon signed what he declared would be the last authorization letter for the draft and it was. EDIT: It is worth noting that SecDef Rumsfeld is the first SecDef since Laird who has not endorsed the one force concept. uw

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (27304)	2/1/2004 4:30:49 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793931

It seems Kerry was relating "stories" he said he was told by fellow-veterans. He never said he saw the atrocities committed himself. True for the moment. That took some time. But under questioning eventually Kerry did admit to violating the Hague and Geneva Conventions on the battlefield. Though he refused to share specific details of his own actions at that time. Here is a clip from an article published in the Boston Globe. The article is lengthy and examines many parts of Kerry and his movement. To some veterans, including some of those who served alongside Kerry, this was too much. They thought they had served honorably, and they had seen Kerry as a gung-ho skipper who led the charge and didn't voice such opposition on the battlefield. "I would go up a river with that man anytime. He was a great American fighting man," said Michael Bernique, a highly decorated veteran who served as a swift boat skipper alongside Kerry. But Bernique remains upset with Kerry's assertion that atrocities were committed, an assertion that Kerry has not backed away from. "I think there was a point in time when John was making it up fast and quick. I think he was saying whatever he needed to say." boston.com