Administration closing more Military Bases

[weester87]

Interesting that when certain previous presidents cut back on the military they were blasted by the "righties" for gutting our military. Now the present administration is doing the same thing and I bet none of the "righties" here will condemn them for doing it....Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Its also interesting how they blackmailed Congress into accepting it! I have to say it, D@mn Chickenhawks!



WASHINGTON - President Bush on Thursday endorsed a plan for closing 22 major military bases and reconfiguring 33 others, leaving their fate to Congress.

Bush had until Sept. 23 to either accept the entire report from an independent commission and send it to Congress, or return it to the commission for further work.

Bush's submission of the report comes as his administration and Congress are preoccupied with aiding the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast and addressing other priorities. A GOP-led effort in the Senate to derail the base-closing process, which Republican leaders feared could embarrass them, has fizzled.

The commission denied politics played a role in any decisions, even as it voted to keep open bases in the home states of Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and other senators leading the opposition. That all but eliminated the possibility of congressional intervention.

Congress reluctantly authorized this round of closures only after the White House threatened to veto an entire defense bill if it did not give the Pentagon the go-ahead.

[BlownZ]

I think reconfiguring and reallocating our assets is a whole lot different than gutting our military...which is what Slick did.

I have a new name for your side...since you are so fond of the term chickenhawk....you can be chicken little! Always convinced the sky is falling.....I thought it was appropriate.

Damn Chicken Littles!

[weester87]

Cluck Cluck Cluck.................

[bruce]

Originally Posted by weester87

Interesting that when certain previous presidents cut back on the military they were blasted by the "righties" for gutting our military. Now the present administration is doing the same thing and I bet none of the "righties" here will condemn them for doing it.....

Other then using your normal 2 YO tactic of name calling, you are right. Most people are to brain dead to realise that a strong military is what prevented incidents like the USS Cole, and 9/11. People constantly forget that the threat of a *Big Stick* works. Not to mention that the current Congress has only 38% of the Congressmen, as having served in the military, whereas 10 years ago it was 76% (according to this months DAV magazine). So with fewer and fewer people that have any grasp of what the military's about, it will be slashed, and cut until we're defenseless.

9/11 was a wake up, and the majority of Americans seem to already hit the snooze button for what's going on, worldwide.

[tc86gn]

Fake seals giving their opinion of military base closures is funny stuff!

[UNGN]

The commission denied politics played a role in any decisions, even as it voted to keep open bases in the home states of Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and other senators leading the opposition. That all but eliminated the possibility of congressional intervention

The base closing commision said it would save more money if all the B-1's were based in one base. Dyess is the better base, so it wins.

Somebody crunched the numbers and said Dyess is in Tornado alley and has the potential of being hit with an F5 tornado in the next 20-30 years which could destroy every B-1 we have (except for maybe 3 in Diego Garcia).

So they decided to keep half the B-1's in South Dakota.

Doesn't sound too political to me.

Some of the base "cuts" aren't even really cuts. Shepard airforce base "loses" 2000+ JSF training jobs. JSF won't even enter the inventory in any numbers until 2010, if at all. Those cuts will put a lot of people on the street...not.

More than few of the "base" closures are "dumb bomb" plants. Since the days of carpet bombing are gone for good, do we really need to keep the plants that made and stored these bombs open? I don't think so.

[weester87]

"I think reconfiguring and reallocating our assets is a whole lot different than gutting our military...which is what Slick did."

Lets see, Clinton had a congress controlled by who? REPUBLICANS, and who voted for the cutbacks under Clinton? CONGRESS...................Doh!

Under Bush, we have a Republican Congress and:

"Congress reluctantly authorized this round of closures only after the White House threatened to veto an entire defense bill if it did not give the Pentagon the go-ahead."

[bruce]

Originally Posted by UNGN

Since the days of carpet bombing are gone for good,

And if you're wrong?.

So far most all of the *smart* bombs, have been convered dumb iron ones, from what I recall.

Burning ones bridges, isn't always (ever?), the smartest position to take.

In the event of a **major** war, if we have to crank up from 0 manufacturing, the war could be over, before we get into serious production. One of our largest advantages in WWII, is that since the war wasn't being fought on our home soil, we had the time to convert production from civilian items to military. As fast as the new age battlefields move, any war could in part be on our own soil.

One needs, IMO, to try and cover all possible contingiences, not summarily dismiss them. War, is often about first strikes, and then the ability to maintain, that advantage. Waiting for the other side, to invade, and generate inventories of supplies are both what made WWI, and WWII so darned bloody.

[2quiktocare]

First, the base closures were started by a Democrat president and Congress. It was thought fiscal responsibility due to the ending of the cold war. Right, take the money and give it to the war on poverty which is a major flop.

The military, with weapons far more accurate and technologically advanced that the whole face of warfare and the military has changed, is in no need of many of these bases.

And remember that Clinton's first two years were with a democrat controlled Congress.

[weester87]

"First, the base closures were started by a Democrat president and Congress."

If you are refering to Clinton....He had a Republican controlled Congress!

I'm not agains the base closures, but lets get the facts straight, both DEMS and REPS are closing the bases and making military cuts. The rhetoric blaming the Dems for military downsizing is just that..........RHETORIC!

[bruce]

Base closings, isn't about either party, it's about people not having a clue about *not putting one's eggs, in one basket*.

From a military stand point if all your munitions are built in one place, then hitting that one target leaves you without the ability to manufacturer any more. It's an enemy's dream, and Joe Average, and their reps, just don't get how nonsensical it is to single source any one military item. Stationing the B1s, B2's, 117s, to their own individual bases, is just asking for trouble.

[Drew L]

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