Bush to Call on Guard to Bolster Border

Celestina

I thought first and foremost we had to defeat the terrorists. It occurs to me that shooting folks who try to cross the border from Mexico is not exactly going to make us any friends to the south.

It occurs to me you don't believe it's possible for terrorists to easily cross into the States via our porous borders.

And it occurs to me you have read something that isn't there, namely that any shooting would be done. Or perhaps I have missed the reference to the National Guard patrolling the border with orders to shoot to kill.

Could you be so kind to post a link to any references you have?

There was also a time when the military didn't have problems meeting its recruitment goals. Now, the military is grossly under-manned. Thank You, President Bush.

Show me some numbers or shut up.

Funny how the re-enlistment goals have been exceeded during a time of war.

My fault, Youre right.

Now I just wonder where I heard that...

Well, don't be so hard on yourself yet, because I think recruitment goals are indeed not being met. Recruitment generally means taking new recruits from the general population, and reenlistment means to reup soldiers already in. So they are having no problem at all keeping the soldiers who are already in, it's just a question of convincing people to come in to begin with where they have a problem. But recruitment goals are on and off-again not met, and naturally, harder to get during any wartime period. I think it's a good sign that reenlistment goals are being met and exceeded.

insert_name_here

There was also a time when the military didn't have problems meeting its recruitment goals. Now, the military is grossly under-manned. Thank You, President Bush.

Say what!?

All four services exceeded their active-duty recruiting goals in April for the 11th consecutive month and remain ahead of their year-to-date goals.

However, that is an apples and oranges comparison. Bush is talking National Guard, not active duty. As far as the regular Army being "stretched" that's rhetorical nonsense by a politician. The US Military currently has approx. 1.6 million in uniform with less than 200,000 stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. If they are stretched (which obviously I don't believe) they can be quickly pulled out of Germany completely, forever, as Rumsfeld has planned all along.

But I do have a suggestion for you "insert_name_here" if you are truly worried about an over-taxed military we could pull the U.S. National Guard out of Kosovo the "National Guard has taken over the entire mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo."

Geesh... talk about a "quagmire," what's it been, 7 years?

What does President Clinton have to do with our troubles fighting the Iraq war and securing the border? Honestly, this comment makes no sense to me.

Full Throttle, if the military is not being stretched too thin, then why are National Guard soldiers being used at all? Why are reserve soldiers being called up? In states like Iowa, 75% of National Guard units have been activated for federal use. While that is a point of pride for those in the Iowa National Guard (we get called up because we have an established reputation as having some of the best trained and hardest working units), it is also a source of concern. That is a lot of soldiers on 18-month tours that really don't need to be, at least if your claim that the military is not overstretched is accurate. Why can't the other 1.4 million active duty members provide the relief that the National Guard is being asked to do?

There's always that pesky Posse Comitatus.

roger3000

We don't need to increase border guards. Let the border guards man the toll booths. Increase national Guard size by at least a million and we wouldn't have to many problems. And a better way to enforce laws.

What?

I say again, WHAT!! Obviously you have no concept of what the National Guards mandate is.

Just their presence will serve as a deterent for many.

Insane... these people have walked for hundreds, if not thousands of miles. Some have payed men tens of thousands of dollars to get into the US... a guy with a crewcut and a gun is not going to "deter" them, it's only going to make it take more attempts to get into the US... say from an average of (I'm guessing) 1.5 attempts to an average of 2.5 attempts... It won't deter anyone, just make people irate... primarily Mexican President Fox. Bush sure does love pissing off our allies... how long do you think till he invades Canada lookin for the trrrsts and evil-doers?

I find it ironic that the Mexican President would be mad that we want to stop his citizens from leaving his country and coming to ours. Instead of being mad at us maybe he should try and fix his country so that his people actually want to live there.

That was my first impression of those remarks as well. The Republican party has been showing signs of some serious fractures lately and the contrast between his and Sen. Hagel's remarks are a small glimpse of them.