Colin Powell

“Wow! Colin Powell for Secretary of State. What does this mean? Here is what I think it means. It means that black America will have a role model that does not say, ?You are black first, American second or third.? George Bush is a uniter not a divider. Jesse Jackson has made a career out of polarizing Americans. Colin Powell?s message is that the Us and Them attitude of the past should stay in the past.

I think that we will see peace in the Middle East during this administration. Bill Clinton and Madelin Albright have been a hinderence to this process. Colin Powell has credibility in the Middle East and throughout the world.

I think Dick Gephardt is a credible and reasonable person. I think Bush will be successful in to developing a working relationship with the Democratic leader and work through the partisan bickering. I predict we will see legistlation passed on education and health care. I do not expect to see election reform.

I make these predictions of my own accord. Let the future prove me right or wrong. We should look to the future and not dwell on the past. The pundits of today have already doomed the Bush administration. We will see.

God Bless America”

“I think America is overdue for an economic downturn. Whoever is in office will take the hit. All the other stuff won't matter. In America money is everything.”

“Now if he could just get Stormin' Norman on the Joint Chiefs of Staff we could finally end the disasembly of our military and restore it to it's former strength.”

“Shiesskopf is a blow-hard who never left his bunker during the "war".
He's a screamer who belittles and berates his subordinates and totally loses his cool.
He's a climber who did all the "ticket punches" on his way up.
I don't think too highly of the "Black Head".

Powell is a man I have some respect for.
He too is a "ticket puncher" who stepped on a pungi-stick in Vietnam and went home.
That was his "combat" experience and Purple Heart.
I do believe he is a decent man.

My mother's brother was shot through the lung from top to bottom in Nov '44 at Metz, France as a 2nd Lt, (Inf) following Patton's foolish orders in a real war......now that's how one EARNS a Purple Heart!

I'm afraid Screamin' Norman would just be another "Perfumed Pentagon Prince" who never saw a big ticket weapons system he didn't like.
He does however have "brand name recognition".”

“I have fath that President Bush will do every thing to keep the economic groth going, and i think that he will do alot of good for the contry. It will just take him a long time because of the adjustmant.


*posting at school, spelling & grammar is bad. You don't have to tell me.”

“TommyBboy, I gotta hand it to you. YYou are very well rounded on a variety of subjects. YYou are an ignoramus on all subjects you touch upon.”

“Damn! My keyboard is major messed up! Half my letters aren't showing up when I type! Sorry for the double taps on that last ost. Time to reboot!”

“I've got a rant, so bear with me.

The recent, much publicized military readiness crisis is as dubious and politically motivated as were the Cold War era bomber and missile gap myths. The so-called readiness deficiencies in late 1994 and early 1995 were confined to a few military units that had already been earmarked for demobilization.

George W. Bush, in a campaign speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars this year, bemoaned a "military in decline." At the Republican Convention, Norman Schwarzkopf derided the Pentagon as enfeebled. The Armed Services are in a "downward spiral" (Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott), "neglected" (Senator John McCain), in "bad" shape (Representative Curt Weldon), and "could not fight and win against Iraq today" (Rep. Duncan Hunter).

So what are the facts? Read on, you may learn something.

In nuclear arms, Russia has about the same number of warheads as the United States, but most are unusable. Russia's sea-launched warheads, its most valuable kind, are effectively decommissioned because Moscow's strategic submarine fleet is in such poor repair that it rarely ventures far from port. China possesses 18 antiquated single-warhead ICBMs that require days of launch preparation, plus a single nuclear-missile submarine that almost never departs its port.

In air power, America today possesses more jet bombers, more advanced fighter planes and tactical aircraft, and more aerial tankers, which allow fighters and bombers to operate far from their home soil, than all the other nations of the world combined. Since the early Vietnam war years, U.S.-built aircraft have decisively won every air battle in which they have participated.

On the seas, the U.S. Navy boasts more than twice as many principal combat ships as Russia and China combined, plus a dozen supercarrier battle groups, compared with zero for the rest of the world.

On the ground, the U.S. Army not only rolls the world's best armor (including nearly 8,000 of the fearfully effective Abrams tanks, more than the combined number of modern tanks possessed by Russia and China), it has the world's best-trained troops. China has more soldiers, but most are uneducated forced conscripts, while America has the best-educated military ever. Iraq actually brought to the Gulf war a larger ground force than the United States, yet the army was so thoroughly routed that it sometimes appeared that the Iraqis weren't even firing their weapons.

Nevertheless, the Pentagon and its supporters in Congress successfully fanned public concerns about a nonexistent crisis and obtained a $3.04 billion supplemental appropriation for the Department of Defense. Contrary to the prevailing mythology, the Pentagon is not underfunded. The United States spends far more on the military than does any other nation, and its military forces have unmatched capabilities.”

“Don't forget about Condaleeza Rice. She, too, will be a great example for the "new" African Americans.

Mebbe this will spell the beginning of the end for the NAACP, Jesse, and Louis.”

“While we do not have the same amount of ordanance that we used to, it is not as needed now as it was in the 80's. There is no need for an inflated arms race but we are not replacing equipment at the same rate we use it. The restoration I spoke of is more along the lines of maintaining the equipment we do have and more importantly, taking care of our troops. This needs to be in the form of better pay (there is no getting around the fact that they make jacksh!t compared to the private sector.), better and more training, maintaining a certain level of technology that will keep them effective.

There is no need for the huge arms race of old but the bear is not slayed. It has been beaten and backed into a corner. We need to maintain a certain level of preparedness. No it's not as bad as the extreme right discribes but things ain't peachy keen either.

Based on opinion only. Read accordingly.”

“Tom Terrific, are you implying that the Vietnam War was something less than a real war? It seemed mighty real to me on December 27, 1967, when my battalion walked into an ambush northeast of Hue and 48 Marines were killed and another 87 were wounded.”

“How much more do we need to spend? American military spending is three times China's and Russia's combined. America spends more on defense than the next twelve highest-spending nations put together.

Even adjusting for the fact that American soldiers are well-paid when compared to the rest of the world's aremed forces, the money edge is huge: 63 percent of world military spending comes from the United States .

Instead of huge new 'missle defense systems' that the Republicans in Congress are so in love with, the Pentagon ought to spend that money on their troops.”

“cubicleman, I can type it again.
I have read that Colin Powell spent little time in Vietnam.....not sure how little....stepped on a pungi stick, was awarded a Purple Heart, got his "combat command" ticket punched, and continued his climb to the Pentagon.

As for your experience, it sounds like a real war to me.

Colin Powell and Schwartzkopf are the kind of "leaders" who kiss up to guys like you and stir up patriotic fervor.
How about looking at their accomplishments, all of which I don't know about, and judge them on that and that alone.....not how "good" and "patriotic" they make some people feel.

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scroundrel."”

“Okay, one last thing then I'll shut up. The military is trying to address pay problems--it increased salaries in each of the last two budget cycles. George W. Bush cites pay as one of the Clinton military's core problems, and it is true that most members of today's Armed Forces earn less than their civilian counterparts, but then so do all Federal employees.

But for soldiers to be paid less than civilians is hardly new. Comparisons by the Congressional Budget Office put the gap between comparable wage rates in the civilian and military sectors at about 13 percent under Clinton, only slightly higher than the 12 percent that prevailed under Presidents Reagan and Bush.”

“"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scroundrel."

did you notice that during the speeches on monday, gore had at least six flags on stage with him?

bush only had a measly two. i guess gore wins.

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scroundrel."

"...the LAST refuge of a scoundrel.", huh?

good. now that he has desecrated patriotism, the bastard has nowhere else to hide.”

“Cheney had 14 flags. Letterman had only 12 ):”

“Who's Gore hidin' from???? radagast???

By the way, bacpac, I do appreciate your moderate tone in the opening post of this thread. It is a very thoughtful post, ya big rascal.

"...last refuge..." indeed, think of Nixxon, Milosevic, The Pres of The Phillipines(his name escapes me).....these jokers have wrapped themselves in the flag when the dogs came for them.”

“Marcos”

“Marcos

And what makes you think Dick Gephardt is a reasonable and credible person?”

“Certainly Marcos, he's been dead for a while, though they did finally run him out on a rail, and he was supported by Reagan, AND given asylum in Hawaii.....one right-wing nut scratchin' another's back(or kissin' ass).

The current El Presidente is in a similar position.....yeah, a position to steal millions!”

“Military spending?
Spend, spend, spend!

I'm sure that the employees of General Dynamics, Lockheed, GM, etc, etc, etc, would luuuuuuuv for that to happen! It only helps the overall economy, folks.”

“Ya buncha welfare queens!!!”

“Hey Kleetn, you're making a lot of sense to me. It really irks me when Congress authorizes spending on things the Pentagon says it doesn't need and then demand furhter spending increases. We gotta realize how much pork there is in the military budget, how many people use patriotism to keep the pork barrel full.

I hear that there are some clear moral problems in the military that need to be addressed.

Of course, I don't think the term "snafu" would have originated in the military if there weren't big problems even in the good old days.”

“Try reading Colin Powell's book,"My American Journey", very interesting. And while you are at it, do a little research on Ferdinade Marcos. He was a guerrilla fighter during the second World War, went into politics, and became a good example of the corruption of power”

“Ferdinand, sorry about that.”

“Can you name the country that maintains the following military force?


709,000 Regular (active duty) service personnel.

293,000 reserve troops.

8 standing Army divisions.

20 Air Force and Navy air wings with 2,000 combat aircraft.

232 Strategic bombers.

13 Strategic ballistic missile submarines with 3,114 nuclear warheads on 232 missiles

500 ICBMs with 1,950 warheads

4 aircraft carriers

All the support bases, shipyards and logistical assets needed to sustain such a force.

It is not Russia
It is not Great Britain
It is not China
Actually this Army does not represent any country. This is a list of what the Clinton-Gore administration has cut from the United States military during the last 8 years.”

“So what is your point, bacpac? Are you saying we have become defenseless under the Clinton administration?

Since Clinton took office, his defense-budget proposals have never differed from Republican counterproposals by more than 2 percent. For fiscal 2001, for example, Clinton proposed an increase of about 4 percent; congressional Republicans replied by proposing an increase of slightly less than 6 percent of the Pentagon budget.

The reduction in divisions, combatant ships, and fighter wings follows basically the "contraction" strategy laid out by a certain Dick Cheney himself when he was secretary of defense, in a 1990 document called the Base Force review.”

“I wasn't trying to make a point is just seemed relavent to the discussion.

This discussion is not relative to the thread so why don't you shut your yap and go back to making bad jokes and hurling insults.

hehehe”

“You head has a point!”

“Prediction: If Gore wins, Powell will be asked to join Gore's cabinet. (Will he accept if asked?)”

“Colin Powell is a decent man, but he's a politcal general.
Its as if he's the holy grail of politics......."he must be a messiah...."”

“I've read both of the afore mentioned bios. My sister-in-law met the Powells in Birmingham at a girl scout function. She was thourghly smitten with them. I have a friend that was on Stormin Normans staff during the gulf war. These men are the real deal. Sgt.Rock needs to weigh in on this. As to the state of the military,to me ,the most important issue is whether or not to keep the ability to fight a two-fronted war. Also,the army is way short on captains and the navy has a hard time keeping its pilots.”

“"This discussion is not relative to the thread so why don't you shut your yap and go back to making bad jokes and hurling insults.
bacpac
11/30/00"

Talking to yourself again BacPac?

It wouldn't be so troublesome if you could just get along with yourself better.

Time to take the Haldol.”

“Hey,
what about say, 1940?
Our military ranked what? Sixth, eighth?

What about four years later?
MOOOOOOOOOhahahahaHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Just after the Pearl Harbor incident:
"They have awakened a sleeping giant".
~Winston Churchill”

“Our Military may seem strong now, but it's losing it's structure due to aging equipment and decreasing enlistment rates. The reason the troops are paid so well is so that they stay in the service. All of our F-15's, the backbone of Air Power, are aging and need replacing badly.

Another problem in the military today has to do with diversity. Did you know the Navy seals had to lower their enterance standards because not enough women were making it through the training? Do you want a special ops force to be weaker just so that Jessie Jacksonites can be happy?”

“Kleetn, I can tell you from first hand witness what the status of the military is. I'm not some anylist reading reports generated by bean counters that can make almost any set of figures say what they want.

1. Hardware - the US military still has lots of hardware like rednecks have 10 cars. I see on many posts great motorpools of armored vehicles that are as usefull as a 72 pinto on blocks.

2. Readiness - in my platoon, I have 5 of 7 HMMWV that were built in 1985. The military program life of HMMVs was 14 years max, but now because of significant levels of reduced funding these wear out dates are being extended. Now if you still owned a car after 15+ years, it would not be a very good ride, especially if you drove it like it was in a Baja 500 with machineguns on a yearly basis.

3. Personnel - recently it was reported on the news (I remeber it well) that all the US Army combat units were at 100% manning. In fact it was like a magician's trick. In the months leading up to that, the Army "hollowed" out the training units and assigned everyone to the combat units, while at the same time slowing and stopping assignments out of those units of all personnel, even the ones that were medically unfit. My platoon is authorized 21 soldiers, and I was finnaly up to 19 when they announced it. Some of the soldiers at post HQ that are not it combat units (the ones they wanted to look good) were listed as assigned at our unit to fill these holes. Within a month after the anouncement, I was down to 15 soldiers. Now that the administration got to claim the military is fit, soldiers are comming down on orders and were are going right back to 60%-70% strength.

4. Budget - last year I was a First Sergeant of a training company (PLDC for you ex-soldiers that are in the know), and my entire years budget that had to pay for all toilet paper, trash bags, clensers, floor wax, paper, pencils, forms, printer ribbons, etc, etc, etc was $5000 for a company of 160 soldiers and 21 Cadre. In order to make ends meet I had to have soldiers turn in empty cardboard tubes from rolls of toilet paper in exchange for new rolls in order to ensure we prevented any excess usage. Not what you would expect from an Army that is so over budgeted.

5. Moral - I see great soldiers that would make excellent leaders getting out every day. The Army finally started offering huge bonuses (10,000+) for soldiers to enlist or stay in with some effect, but it was my experience about 10 years ago that most soldiers would re-enlist without huge bonuses. This is a direct reflection of my next point.

6. Deployment - In my first 7 or so years in the Army, we very rarely deployed anywhere. We were stationed on the three primary fronts: Europe, Asia (Korea), and Homestation in the U.S. It was rare and special to get to go anywhere but these three places. Now in the last 8 years (funny about that) I know soldiers that have multiple deployments all over the world (including me). True there is not the once great threat of the Soviet Union, but today we go everywhere some politician has a whim to go.

7. Needed equipment - we are still equiped to fight a land war in Europe in which we had great stocks of pre-positioned equipment and supplies. But today the world situation requires us to be rapidly deployed to far flung places with little transport assets. What I mean by that is an M1 tank weighs about 70 tons - and uses 500 gallons of fuel a day. Imagine trying to move a platoon of four tanks - which is about all the rapid deployment can now move with with their capabilities. They will also need a 60+ ton recovery vehicle, 2 12 ton trucks with 2,000 + gallons of fuel a day, ammo to support their operation, etc. This was once acceptable for our plans, but now is not cost effective or efficient for the mission required. In order to do what were are being asked it would make more sense to have lighter, more fuel efficent vehicles. An analogy would be like the late 70's and early 80's. When the oil crisis hit, Americans realized a Caddy that got 7 MPG was not a good idea and wanted to go smaller and more fuel efficent, but many also lost jobs and couldn't afford to buy a new smaller car. So your stuck with a big gas guzzeler that makes things even worse given the situation your in.

O.K. I'm sure many of you can quote articles in many publications to show me just how wrong I am, but that is the honest un-biased view from this old sergeant foxhole. It ain't suguar coated or overstated.”

“Thank's for serving Sgt. Rock.”

“What does this have to do with Colon Powell?”

“Here's to you Rock. And to all those like you. Damned few are left.”

“What about Boog Powell?”

“I went home a few times after seeing my Red Sox lose because of ole Boog.”

“and what about semi-colon powell.”

“what the hell, i didnt post that!!!??????”

“dumb ass”

“im f1cked up???”

“confusion?”

“Is prowler alive?”

“feel the force, Luke.”

“Columbian? Panamanian?

Prowler must have dug out the good stuff.”