This was Bush’s latest threat today:
Bush said the Defense Department will soon send Congress a request to transfer $1.6 billion (€1.2 billion) from other military accounts to cover funding for troops — a move needed, he said, because lawmakers have delayed his emergency spending request. He warned that continued delays would undermine troop training, slow the repair of equipment and force soldiers to serve longer tours of duty.
Catch that? I emphasized the key part. If the Democrats don’t give Bush the money (you know – the money he won’t veto), then our troops could have their tours extended.
Damn those Democrats – how dare they do that to our troops!
But wait! Tonight ABC News reports this:
ABC News has learned that the Pentagon is considering extending the tours of duty for every active duty soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Forget small extensions and trickles of National Guard troops. Under the proposal, deployments for active duty soldiers would be extended from the current 12 months to 15 months. Senior Defense Department officials say the idea has already been presented to Defense Secretary Gates. A decision is expected as early as this week.
“These soldiers have paid the price for this policy for four years. Now they are being given an additional burden to bear, and it will be a cause of concern for the soldiers and even more so for the families,” says retired Gen. William Nash.
So money or no money, the Pentagon is already looking at extending the tours, because they need it for Bush’s surge. It says that right here:
The stress on the Army has been compounded by the surge of additional forces the president announced in January, a surge Iraq commander David Petreaus wants to extend. Senior officials tell ABC News there is now consensus at the Pentagon and the White House that Petreaus is right. The surge needs to be extended, until at least the end of the year.
Defense officials say extending the surge is simply impossible to do without either extending the tours of those troops already there, or dramatically cutting the time soldiers spend back home.
This surge of 20,000 troops has strained our army. The most powerful army in the world could not handle an additional 20,000 troops! Remember that. This is what George Bush’s failed foreign policy has given us – a weakened army. So how long until he tries to lay the blame of our weakened army on the shoulders of the Democrats? I bet he is trying to figure out a way already.
Again – Bush lies to the American people and he gets caught. Is it any wonder why his approval ratings are in the toilet?