Our Army is being broken. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

It’s not just first-term enlisted men refusing to stay in the Army. The loss of trained, motivated, troops affects tomorrow’s Army, because that is the recruiting pool for the mid-level and senior NCOs of the Army of the 2010’s. For many of them, two tours in Iraq in 40 months is enough. They're tired of "stop loss" programs extending their terms of enlistment. In an effort to replace this valuable pool of soldiers the Army has reduced their entrance requirements, lowering both the mental and “moral” qualifications. Where once a high school diploma, or GED was required in support of a demanded AFQT score, they Army is now accepting enlistees both without a diploma or certificate, and lower test scores. They’ve also announced they will accept soldiers with minor drug offense records, as long as they test clean. (I’m sure such troops will be periodically tested throughout their service.)

Lower level NCOs, E-5s and E-6s with 10 or 12 years service are also pulling the pin, prompted by the idea of third, and undoubtedly fourth deployments in “the sandbox” of Iraq, Afghanistan, and wherever Mr Bush decides to go next in his desperate floundering to maintain a Republican majority in Congress. Another concern for these older, seasoned soldiers is family obligations. Many are married, with children and the wives of some have to make hard decisions about watching their man go off every 14 months for another years of daily fear every time they see an officer in an Army sedan. Army wives don’t like Mr Bush and Mr Rumsfeld announcing a “long war” or “never-ending war of cultures.”

And it’s not just the enlisted men, either.

Why the US Army Is Losing Its Lieutenants by James Dunnigan May 29, 2005

The U.S. Army is losing its lieutenants and captains at the rate of 8.7 percent a year. Indications are that this rate will increase. The main reason is the prospect of constant overseas assignments, without their families, for the duration of the war on terror. This causes problems with the officers families. Then there is the pull of better job prospects in an improving economy. The prospect of losing over ten percent of your junior officers a year is compounded by the fact that a disproportionate number of these will be those with the most combat experience.

A third factor in the exodus is the dislike of the army’s “force protection” fixation. The army puts a lot of emphasis on keeping casualties down. But a lot of the combat commanders interpret this as doing as little as possible. This, despite the fact that those commanders who get outside their camps a lot, reduce enemy activity and American casualties. But these aggressive tactics come with some risk, and many battalion and brigade commanders (lieutenant colonels and colonels) are more risk averse than the captains and lieutenants (company and platoon commanders). Once you hit lieutenant colonel, you are making the army a career, and are less inclined to take chances. But captains and lieutenants can afford to take chances, and are put off when their bosses are not.

Make no mistake about it. Bu$hCo has told the senior generals to keep casualties down. In the White House, this is not compassionate concern for the troops. Over there, everything is analyzed for its political potential. And they know flag-draped coffins lose votes. That’s a major reason why photography is prohibited when the dead come home. Their families are even prohibited from standing on the ramp to see their beloved’s “transfer tube” unloaded. They also don’t want anyone to take photos of the daily planes arriving from Landstuhl, filled with stretchers of limbless and brain-damaged troops.

Those who know, who lead, and have led, know the problems, and are finally speaking out.

CNN is reporting that a fifth retired general is calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation.

“I really believe that we need a new secretary of defense because Secretary Rumsfeld carries way too much baggage with him. … Specifically, I feel he has micromanaged the generals who are leading our forces there,” said retired Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack, former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Actually, this may be the sixth general. Generals Newbold, Eaton, Zinni, and Batiste have gained prominent attention in calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation. But another less-noticed general, Ret. Army

Gen. John Riggs, told the Washington Post recently:
[Riggs] believes that his peer group is “a pretty closemouthed bunch” but that, even so, his sense is “everyone pretty much thinks Rumsfeld and the bunch around him should be cleared out.”

Given the inability of Bush to do what needs to be done, it’s time to revisit one of “Rumsfeld’s Rules” pertaining to presidential staff:
Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.

Don’t think for a second that these six General Officers are the lone dissenters. We will see more and more retired Generals and senior Colonels speaking out over the next two months. They have many supporters, still in uniform. These men are prominent citizens. They have proven themselves in war and peace, and their numbers as well as their records of service will force the corporate media to discuss them. Karl Rove doesn’t have enough hours in the day, nor enough backroom operators skilled enough to swiftboat all of them. And if he tries, he will be shocked. These men kept quiet when Senator Kerry was slimed as a traitor and coward. They will speak out, and they will fight back in the press. And their friends and comrades still in uniform will support them as much as possible.

Look for more revelations like Seymour Hersh’s exposes of sadistic torture and child rape at Abu Ghraib prison, and now the revelations of the upcoming plan to destroy Iran’s technical plants with nuclear attack.

And once Mr Rumsfeld is driven from office, these men will start in on Mr Cheney and Mr Bush. They know the clock is ticking. There is a timetable, and it is geared to the November mid-term elections. Bu$hCo must strike Iran about a month before those elections if they are to preserve the Republican majority and prevent the impeachment of both Mr Bush and Mr Cheney.

Kanye West had it almost right at NBC’s concert for Hurricane Katrina relief. “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Actually, George Bush doesn’t care about the troops either. George Bush cares about George Bush, and about Barbara Bush, because for his entire life she has derided him, belittling him, comparing him unfavorably to his father who actually had the courage to fly in combat, an assignment George moved heaven and earth to avoid himself. Maybe she though she was inspiring him, giving him a goal to look to, and to aspire to beat. If that was her goal, she failed to make him into a man.