Reply to Boos Heard At GOP Debate After Gay Soldier Asks About 'Don't Ask'

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

You are making excuses.  We did not prepare for urban combat.  That's why IED's were so dangerous to us.  We all talked about this back in 2003.  Remember all of the talk about asymmetric war?   The issue was not money.  Armor is low tech.  We did not plan to fight this kind of war, which is bad assumptions, not budget.  Same with the embassies.  And if you are telling me that you think the USS Cole was underfunded and that led to its destruction, you are crazy.  The Cole is a Destroyer.  It was taken out by a small boat.  While in port!  In Yemen!  Do you honestlyt think that lack of guns, radar, or personnel caused this to happen, or lack of preparedness?

As for total budget, this is hardly plummeting.  I suppose the cold war ended, the soviet union fell, and the right thing to do was to keep growing at the Reagan pace.

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You won't get any argument from me that we were unprepared for asymmetric warfare. The Cole was attacked in 2000. We were not at war with Yemen. It was fairly normal for small boats to be operating around a destroyer in port. It was an unprovoked and unexpected attack, just like using planes to attack the WTC and pentagon.

We should have been more prepared. All the signs were there that most potential future conflicts would be asymmetric. However, planners at high levels decided to plan for the "worst" case, which would be against large armies. It's easier to plan for, and costs more money. However, the tactics, techniques, and procedures for normal warfare are completely different than asymmetric warfare. We were prepared for the worst, not the most likely.

That said, it's easy to understand WHY military has typically voted republican for the last 20 years. As proven by the evidence, the military got more money during republican years - both in terms of pay raises, as well as in terms of funding for operation and maintenance of military units. During the 90s, it was normal for the officers to buy the toilet paper for their units restrooms. It was normal to take parts from one broken piece of gear to fix another piece of gear so less equipment was down since there was little money for repair parts. In the 90s, many people who thought the military was going to be their career were forced out.  Almost 1/3 of officers were forced out. Like anyone else, the typical military person votes for the candidate that best protects his livelihood. It's not a matter of being a poor southern conservative or not. It's protecting your paycheck no matter what color you are or if you came from NYC or SoCal or Texas.[/quote]

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