From: "Rich Gauszka" 

I think the generals have come to some agreement that the military is
really strained with it's obligations. You just can't keep extending tours
of duty forever. The reports today are that the Army would like a 60,000
troop increase. That won't sit well with Rumy. That's what happens when an
administration chooses the battlefield rather than long term diplomacy to
meet it's goals. I don't fault the generals for seeking the increase.


http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2489700&page=1
 The strain on the Army from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan has
become so great that top officials are now privately saying the only
long-term solution may be to make the overall size of the Army bigger,
adding as many as 60,000 troops, ABC News has learned.

It's not a request or a recommendation yet, but senior Army officials have
discussed this for weeks and are now in agreement that the Army could meet
its worldwide obligations more easily by expanding the overall size of its
force.

"Mark"  wrote in message
news:45189511{at}w3.nls.net...
> The generals aren't happy with the necessary changes Rumsfeld is making.
> No one likes change. But I do at least respect the opinion of active duty
> generals.  mouth off on media cue after the fact, not so much>
>
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> news:451892ed{at}w3.nls.net...
>> First the retired generals despised Rummy and now it appears the active
>> duty ones have caught the anti-Rummy virus
>>
>> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2375105,00.html
>> DONALD RUMSFELD, the US Defence Secretary, is facing a new challenge to
>> his authority after the US Army's Chief of Staff refused to submit a
>> budget plan for 2008 in protest at the demands the Pentagon is placing on
>> America's overstretched military.
>> General Peter Shoomaker's behind-closed-doors challenge was disclosed
>> yesterday as another wave of criticism was launched - this time at a
>> forum conducted by Senate Democrats - from a group of ex-Generals who
>> have already called for Mr Rumsfeld to quit after six years as Defence
>> Secretary.
>>
>>
>>
>> General Schoomaker took the highly unusual step last month of delaying
>> submission of the Army's budget plan, arguing that the service requires
>> either a much bigger budget than the Administration has proposed or
>> relief from some of its worldwide commitments.
>>
>> ...
>>
>> Yesterday three retired military generals bluntly accused Mr Rumsfeld of
>> bungling the war in Iraq, saying that US troops were sent to fight
>> without the best equipment, and that critical facts were hidden from the
>> public. "I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the
>> Administration did not tell the American people the truth for fear of
>> losing support for the war in Iraq," retired Major General John Batiste
>> said.
>>
>> It is rare for retired military officers to criticise the Pentagon while
>> military operations are under way, particularly at a public event likely
>> to draw widespread media attention.
>>
>> A second military leader, retired Major General Paul Eaton, assessed Mr
>> Rumsfeld as "incompetent strategically, operationally and
tactically".
>> "Mr Rumsfeld and his immediate team must be replaced or we will see two
>> more years of extraordinarily bad decision-making," he said.
>>
>>
>
>

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