WAR: Hidden Cost of War Running High, page 1

posted on Jan, 16 2005 @ 02:44 PM

link

The $100 billion that the Pentagon is going to be asking congress for in the coming month is only to cover the current expense of replacing and repairing equipment. However, military officers are saying costs from the war will burden the nation for years to come. The desert environment our troops are stationed in is taking a toll on our militarys ground forces. Some are estimating that as much as 40% of certain vehicles and equipment will need to be replaced.

www.boston.com
"We're going to be paying for this war for years to come," Representative Martin T. Meehan, a Lowell Democrat and member of the House Armed Services Committee, said by telephone yesterday from the Middle East, where he has been touring US military bases in Iraq. "We are not preparing for much of the cost."

If the war were to end today, according to a preliminary estimate by the Congressional Budget Office that was described by officials who have been briefed on it, the Army would still need at least $20 billion more than budgeted over the next three years just to be at the same level of preparedness as before the war.

All four branches of the military recently completed a "stress study" ordered a year ago by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to determine the impact the war is having on equipment. "What they found was an amazing toll on combat vehicles, generators, just about everything," said a defense analyst involved in the study. "At some point it doesn't make sense to overhaul the equipment, you have to replace it."

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

This article paints a bleak picture of not enough troops, failing equipment and a huge price tag to keep our armies functional. The Army is saying that in 2005, 2006, and 2007 it will cost $35 billion annually to replace and fix equipment. That's on top of the defense budget.

However, Steve Kosiak of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments is saying that the predicted price tags are running higher than they should be. Much of the equipment being overused would have had to been replaced soon anyway due to it's age.

Also in the article was part of a letter John Kerry has written to the President:

"The United States military is too small for the missions it faces," the lawmakers wrote. "Simply put, success in modern war requires sufficient boots on the ground. With nearly 150,000 troops and Marines in Iraq, nearly 20,000 in Afghanistan, and tens of thousands more in Korea and elsewhere, we are left to conclude that the American military is too small, not simply for the challenges we face today, but also as an appropriate hedge against future dangers."

I'm sure that will further fuel the fires of "the draft is coming".

Muaddib

posted on Jan, 16 2005 @ 02:52 PM

link

Well, well.....Kerry seems to be trying to enforce his "Army of Patriots" even though he lost the elections... He is trying to change the mind of president Bush and embrace the "100 days plan" that Kerry had in mind if he would have won the elections.

In looking to the future at 2020, Senator Kerry says that "I want to create a seamless web of service where every American - young and old, rich and poor, of every race, religion, and background - can enlist in a new army of patriots who will serve on all the frontlines of our future - guarding our nation from danger abroad, strengthening our homeland security, reducing illiteracy, preserving our environment, providing after-school care, helping our seniors live in dignity, building new homes for those who need them - and in all of this, building a nation that is more truly one America."

Excerpted from.
www.2020democrats.org...

More about Kerry's "100 days plan" can be found here.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

As stated above by kerry it almost sounds good and well, unless you dig deeper and find exactly what he had, or has, in mind....

[edit on 16-1-2005 by Muaddib]

kazi

posted on Jan, 16 2005 @ 06:48 PM

link

Maudibb: lIt's not utopian, but vs. Bush's plan of watching fox or cnn and making decisions based on desperation, it is a plan.

raven2012

posted on Jan, 17 2005 @ 11:24 PM

link

In looking to the future at 2020, Senator Kerry says that "I want to create a seamless web of service where every American - young and old, rich and poor, of every race, religion, and background - can enlist in a new army of patriots who will serve on all the frontlines of our future - guarding our nation from danger abroad, strengthening our homeland security, reducing illiteracy, preserving our environment, providing after-school care, helping our seniors live in dignity, building new homes for those who need them - and in all of this, building a nation that is more truly one America."

i wonder if that's what hitler told the germans in 1933...

-raven