Bush Administration Weakens the US Military, America Less Safe

Many voted Bush into office thinking America would be safer against terrorists. This concept has proven an oxymoron now that we see our how our military has been abused by being sent to war ill-equipped and without an adequate plan or strategy, and our borders have been overrun with illegal aliens.

Bush sent our troops in without enough support, armor, or a plan... and that he's extended tours of duty way beyond what is reasonable to expect - especially from our National Guard, to top it off, now we see our vets being neglected when they return.

As an indication of how thin the American military is being stretched, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, has sent a classified report to the Secretary of Defense, and now to Capitol Hill, that says the risk is now "significant," that the US Military would not be able to meet its obligation if in fact a third crisis now were to break out. The Washington Post reports:

"Nearly 90 percent of Army National Guard units in the United States are rated "not ready" -- largely as a result of shortfalls in billions of dollars' worth of equipment -- jeopardizing their capability to respond to crises at home and abroad, according to a congressional commission that released a preliminary report yesterday on the state of U.S. military reserve forces."

What amazes me most is that Bush has capitalized on Americans' fear of terrorism to retain control while making America less safe by weakening our military and alienating our allies. As a result, many of our enemies like Iran and N. Korea have been emboldened. They talk about Democrats emboldening the enemy, in fact it is the Bush Administration's failures that have emboldened the enemy.

We must remember on whose watch 9/11 happened and the circumstances leading up to it - Bush was warned repeatedly & specifically about an impending "spectacular" al Qaeda attack in '01 - then he went on vacation ... for a month. Bush rightly attacked the Taliban, but failed to catch bin Laden when cornered at Tora Bora, then cuts and runs to Iraq to implement another a failed plan before finishing the job in Afghanistan. The Taliban has now returned - funded by a record opium crop that supplies 90% of the world's heroin. I don't get it, Bush for a stronger America? A bad joke.

Ironic that candidate Bush said in 2000:

"To point out that our military has been overextended, taken for granted and neglected, that’s no criticism of the military. That is criticism of a president and vice president and their record of neglect."

EXACTLY true in 2007