Nanker Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 #Bring Back Our Boys For Michelle, in case she's interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 (edited) This is how a command in chief acts. In a stunning display of callousness, the Defense Department has announced that thousands of soldiers — many serving as commanding officers in Afghanistan — will be notified in the coming weeks that their service to the country is no longer needed.Last week, more than 1,100 Army captains — the men and women who know best how to fight this enemy because they have experienced multiple deployments — were told they’ll be retired from the Army. The overall news is not unexpected. The Army has ended its major operations in Iraq and is winding down in Afghanistan. Budget cuts are projected to shrink the Army from its current 520,000 troops to 440,000, the smallest size since before World War II. What is astonishing is that the Defense Department thought it would be appropriate to notify deployed soldiers — men and women risking their lives daily in combat zones — that they’ll be laid off after their current deployment. Edited July 12, 2014 by LABillzFan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireChan Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 This is how a command in chief acts. [/background][/size][/font][/color][/background][/size][/font][/color] Christ that sucks. What a POS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Christ that sucks. What a POS. In fairness, we really shouldn't blame Obama. I think we're all aware he will know nothing about this until he hears about it in the news like the rest of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 In fairness, we really shouldn't blame Obama. I think we're all aware he will know nothing about this until he hears about it in the news like the rest of us. Honestly, that's probably true. The President isn't involved in those decisions - that doesn't go any higher than Army Chief of Staff/Secretary of the Army level, and probably not even that high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Honestly, that's probably true. The President isn't involved in those decisions - that doesn't go any higher than Army Chief of Staff/Secretary of the Army level, and probably not even that high. The general direction of downsizing had to come from the POTUS. I know he wasn't necessarily involved in the specifics but he had to be part of the overall decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 The general direction of downsizing had to come from the POTUS. I know he wasn't necessarily involved in the specifics but he had to be part of the overall decision. No, the "general direction" is determined by Congress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keukasmallies Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 Let's put our heads together and brainstorm the last time Congress set any "general directions." OK, you start.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Let's put our heads together and brainstorm the last time Congress set any "general directions." OK, you start.... The NDAA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Gatorman and JT6P. There really is someone for everyone. I can't stand that this guy's like the forum's version of a domain squatter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) http://www.judicialw...er-spare-parts/ This sort of thing has been occurring for years at the DOD and the agency hasn’t done a thing to stop the waste. In fact, last summer a federal audit revealed that the Pentagon loses such large sums of money to waste and fraud each year that it has no idea how much and nothing has been done to stop the hemorrhaging. The probe, conducted by the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), did confirm that the amount of public funds lost to waste and fraud amounted to at least $1.1 billion in one recent year alone, though investigators estimated it was likely much higher. A few weeks before that audit was released to the public, the DOD IG had published a separate report disclosing that the agency rewarded a company that had fleeced it with a monstrous no-bid contract extension worth more than $4 billion. The outrageous deal, one of the largest U.S. military contracts in Afghanistan, involved a private firm hired to provide food and water to U.S. troops. The company, Supreme Foodservice GmbH, “overbilled” taxpayers by $757 million and, rather than severing ties, the Pentagon rewarded it with more business. It’s downright insane! There have been many other cases of egregious waste or fraud over the years. In 2012 alone, the DOD lost billions for Iraq reconstruction efforts, $475 million worth of oil for the Afghan army and the agency blew $70 billion on dubious projects unrelated to its mission. This included $5.2 million to study fish that overcome political polarization and $700 million on “duplicative and unnecessary alternative energy” projects. The Pentagon also invested $1.5 million to create its own brand of beef jerky treats and $450,000 to study how babies interact with robots. You can’t make this stuff up. It’s all documented in a congressional report linked to a story published by Judicial Watch. As bad as all this sounds, the prize undeniably goes to the $6.6 billion that the Pentagon somehow lost in Iraq. It’s a mind-boggling example of government corruption. Bundled in chunks of $100 bills, the money was transported in military turbo planes known as C-130 Hercules to Iraq for post-invasion “reconstruction.” About $2.4 billion fit in each aircraft and 21 flights made trips, transporting a total of $12 billion in American currency to Iraq. Half the money just vanished and will never be recovered, according to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, who calls it “the largest theft of funds in national history.” Edited July 14, 2014 by 3rdnlng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I can't stand that this guy's like the forum's version of a domain squatter. Wait. You're not the same guy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Wait. You're not the same guy? All the PA six packs look alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 All the PA six packs look alike. Yes, but the ones from Macungie have that funky odor coming downwind from old man McGregor's farm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Yes, but the ones from Macungie have that funky odor coming downwind from old man McGregor's farm. Salute ! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Salute ! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Ah, good times, men. Good times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/middleeast/obama-weighs-military-strikes-to-aid-trapped-iraqis-officials-say.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=BannerSubHedSum&module=a-lede-package-region®ion=lede-package&WT.nav=lede-package&_r=0 This reminds me of when the first President Bush had to deal with Saddam gassing the Kurds. Good thing we got rid of him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 http://www.nytimes.c...de-package&_r=0 This reminds me of when the first President Bush had to deal with Saddam gassing the Kurds. Good thing we got rid of him! You got all that out of just a headline? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 OMG!!! http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/middleeast/isis-forces-in-iraq.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSum&module=b-lede-package-region®ion=lede-package&WT.nav=lede-package ERBIL, Iraq — Sunni militants captured the Mosul dam, the largest in Iraq, on Thursday as their advances in the country’s north created an onslaught of refugees and set off fearful rumors in Erbil, the Kurdish regional capital. Residents near the dam and officials in the region confirmed that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, held the dam, a potentially catastrophic development for Iraq’s civilian population. The dam, which sits on the Tigris River and is about 30 miles northwest of the city of Mosul, provides electricity to Mosul and controls the water supply for a large amount of territory. A report published in 2007 by the United States government, which had been involved with work on the dam, warned that should it fail, a 65-foot wave of water could be unleashed across areas of northern Iraq. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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