The Bush Praetorian Guard

The occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq are destroying america's military. The process has accelerated to the point where this sad fact can no longer be hidden in the media; you can find evidence all over the public domain. Sure, after decades of staggering technological advances and massive spending for things that go boom the US military is the best equipped force in the world but the human element is broken and getting worse by the day.

After telling us that the war won't end in our lifetime, and rest assured with the mass murderers in charge it never will, the fascists have proceeded to make sure the country's military personnel would never be up to the task. How do you 'win' the most unnecessary war of choice in america's history? How about all those reports of armor shortages and vulnerable vehicles and contractor criminality? Every decision down the line since 9/11 seemingly was meant to shatter the present concept of a standing military force, with terrible results for the troops.

This latest Walter Reed debacle is the tip of a gigantic iceberg of disdain and outright hatred of those troops. We all read horror stories of how badly the vets are treated. Ted Rall:
"The surprise is that anyone is surprised. Every generation of warriors has marched off to war based on the pledge that they would be taken care of no matter what. America has broken that promise every time."
But it's much worse this time. The soldiers are suffering in new ways unimaginable to past generations. You don't have to be hit with bullets or shrapnel to suffer, the entire field of conflict is poisoned with 'depleted' uranium and it's taking a fearsome toll.
High tech body armor that protects them from a blast or bullets is insuring far more head injury:
"It's a type of injury some military doctors say has become the signature wound of the Iraq war."
But all this means little to the fascists. They don't mind sending soldiers back to the highly despised occupations when they're wounded and ailing. When you're strapped for warm bodies as your conquering ways stretch the military to the breaking point you do what you can. So you issue stop loss orders until your forces are spent and exhausted. It's no wonder that record numbers are going off the deep end mentally and emotionally and are killing themselves.

It's also no wonder that the troops now despise the republicans. Note to troops - the democrats have enabled this nightmare so don't stop with the GOP.

But the war criminals had alternatives when american military personnel got used up and wasted. They had backup plans to be able to keep their war on and even expand it. They're in the process of creating a new military, in part recruiting foreigners with a promise of citizenship:
"Born in Evora, Portugal, Lopes enlisted in the U.S. Marines as a Portuguese citizen, earning the nickname Euroguy in his platoon's radio transmissions when he served in Iraq as a lance corporal two years ago.This week, 23 years after his family brought him as baby to Rhode Island, Lopes finally took the naturalization oath, taking advantage of laws that speed up the citizenship process for military personnel.
Lopes, 25, is one of about 69,000 foreign-born people in the military. About 40,000 of them are not citizens."
So far the pentagon is using green card holders living in the US but rest assured they have plans to recruit foreigners in their own country:
"Indeed, some top military thinkers believe the United States should go as far as targeting foreigners in their native countries.
"It's a little dramatic," said Michael O'Hanlon , a military specialist at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution and another supporter of the proposal. "But if you don't get some new idea how to do this, we will not be able to achieve an increase" in the size of the armed forces."

Another facet of this push to completely change the face of fighting forces is how the military is increasingly outsourcing to private contractors. Nobody really knows how many are in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they get paid handsomely with our tax dollars, have zero oversight and are the new face of rampaging fascism.



Forget about honor, defending the country and all that, the war criminals are busy destroying the troops and replacing them with a handsomely rewarded force of mercenaries, willing to take up where and when the old force gets ground into dust.
A private army very likely to return back to the US and apply their skills with little regard for that quaint little document we used to think was the law of the land.

update - Balkinization ruminates on mercs and the citizen soldier.