Posted on 03/05/2007 7:09:48 PM PST by FLOutdoorsman
F___ Buchanan!
Faggot Buchanan?
Though I usually disagree with Buchanan, I don't so much in this case. I think he's right: We do need to increase the size of our standing army, and not rely so heavily on reservists.
We must draft women to be fair. We can not proceed with discrimination as usual against men who have to serve. 18 year old girls must begin to register with Selective Service. No glass ceilings here. Mommy can hug her daughter good bye just like her son. Register girls now!!
Ditto
S**** you Buchanan
It's the new F word!
I did not read his column as recommending a shift from reserves to active, but decreasing the missions of the US military as a whole. Sounds good, but we must decide if we are going to be a force for democracy in the world or should cower under our beds every time some two-bit tin-horn dictator tells us to go away.
"Now, we are willing to go to war with a Russia with thousands of atomic weapons -- over Estonia. Have we lost our minds?"'
To answer your question Pat: No.
But you clearly have lost yours. Do you recall any of the cold war? We constantly risked war with the Soviets who indeed had thousands of atomic weapons.
There are several salient points in this essay which raises hopes of some coherent conclusion. But alas, there is nothing here.
What is his point? Should we increase the military or should we stand down so the Russians can have their way?
I wonder if he isn't getting some Arab money, like Jimmah Cartah.
Citizen soldiers are vital to keeping the military connected to the rest of the population. Reserves should not be done away with, nor should they become little more than weekend warriors getting paid to play army man.
Besides a handful of social issues, there isn't much difference between the paleocons and the Dems these days. Both despise capitalism and free trade, both distrust the notion that American military power can be used for good, and both see the world as reducible to cultures instead of ideas.
How nice of All-American Pat to get out from behind the wheel of his Mercedea-Benz and take valuable time from managing his overseas investments so that he can regale us with more of his armchair warrior military genius.
His position is that of a nationalist, bring troops home from other engagements and keep them honed to protect the country when attacked.
By removing troops from the Korean peninsula, Germany, the Balkans, etc, we can more effectively use troops to protect our borders, etc. He is really against being 'forward deployed' like we are now throughout the middle east, and other regions.
The Reservists have a place in the military, and I think it is starting to be more efficiently managed, then it was a few short years ago.
Much of what Pat says is defeatist, but, I would agree we need a larger military to deal with all threats foreign and domestic.
Also, he does point out how much we endured before, while fighting in Vietnam and we were not 'at the breaking point'.
Pat is a strange duck, but he is not a wimp.
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