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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (38710)	7/29/2004 3:26:17 PM
From: zonkie	Respond to of 81568

Not only did junior divert troops to his war and away from the war on terrorism but he also pulled Predators out of Afghanistan to be used in Iraq. Now what does he do? The backdoor draft. __________________________ EDITORIALS Tapping reserve pool no way to run Army Saturday, July 03, 2004 Tomorrow is Independence Day, though many will be marking the holiday that celebrates our nation's birth with a day off on Monday. Tuesday, for thousands of former soldiers, will be rude-awakening day, the day they receive notice in the mail that they are being involuntarily called up to active duty and may be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan within months. It's yet another sign that the Pentagon badly misjudged how many troops it would have to deploy in the invasion and occupation of Iraq - with forces at the same time still engaged in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had set out to prove in Iraq that the United States could achieve victory there on the cheap - and with significantly fewer troops on the ground than many believed would be needed. He was proven wrong. More than 5,600 former soldiers will be receiving confirmation of that fact beginning on Tuesday and continuing in two more phases through the end of the year. They had thought their service had been completed. Soon they will learn that they'll be returning to war instead of to work. The former soldiers are members of what is called the Individual Ready Reserve. Those called up will serve for at least 18 months, and not more than two years. It's a draft, really, without having to use the word "draft." Imagine a young man, a husband and father, having recently returned from a long stint with the Army in Iraq. He made it home safely to his wife and two kids. He's both incomparably relieved to be home and wondering at the same time if a true sense of normalcy will ever return, if he'll ever truly get over what he went through, what he witnessed. And then he learns that he's going back again. That's no way to run an Army. The former soldiers have served their country. They should be able to celebrate this Independence Day weekend with family and friends. Instead, they've got to worry about what may soon be coming in the mail. For more than a year now, the news from Iraq has shown clearly that things have not at all been going according to plan. Now, news that the Individual Ready Reserve is about to be tapped brings that unwelcome message home more than ever for some 5,600 who doubtless thought they knew it well enough already. masslive.com