http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,111542,00.html

Sounding Retreat
Frank Gaffney | August 28, 2006
Urban legend has it that populations of wild rodents known as lemmings periodically commit mass suicide by throwing themselves off cliffs. In fact, these critters do no such thing. It remains to be seen, however, whether American voters will this Fall do the functional equivalent of the lemming leap: Electing politicians who seductively promise retreat from a strategy of forward defense, thus imperiling large numbers of our countrymen abroad and possibly at home.

No longer are such politicians found only on the far left of the Democratic Party. To be sure, MoveOn.org and its champions in Congress are still among the most vociferous in demanding precipitous withdrawal from Iraq. Now, however, Hillary Clinton -- an erstwhile supporter of the liberation of the Iraqi people -- has found it necessary to realign with her defeatist base. She evidently hopes to do so without explicitly recanting her vote for the war by helping Ned Lamont defeat Joe Lieberman, a fellow Democrat who remains unrepentant about seeking Saddam Hussein's overthrow.

So strong is the siren's call of defeatism at the moment that even some Republicans are succumbing to it. For example, Rep. Chris Shays has just returned from the most recent of many visits to Iraq and joined those declaring that a timetable for beginning to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq must be set, without regard for the conditions on the ground or the consequences of our doing so.

The defeatists typically offer two rationalizations for this course of action. The first contends that we need to retreat so as to compel the Iraqis to make the "tough decisions" about their own future that our presence and support allows them to postpone.

Unfortunately, the decisions that will almost certainly flow from the perception -- let alone the reality -- that America is once again abandoning the Iraqi people will translate into the rise of another repressive authoritarian regime there, this time probably one closely aligned with Iran. Such an outcome would not be good for freedom-loving people in Iraq and elsewhere, including here.

The defeatists' second rationale is even more disingenuous. They complain bitterly that we do not have enough troops in Iraq to win. Yet, with few exceptions, they are unwilling either to increase the deployment there or otherwise to build up our military to contend with current and future needs.

This line fails to acknowledge that war is a come-as-you-are affair. The United States faced the dangerous post-9/11 world with the armed forces and defense industrial base it had left following the 1990s, when many of today's defeatists cashed in yesterday's so-called "peace dividend." It takes a relatively short time to dismantle large parts of our military's power-projection capabilities and infrastructure, and decades to reconstitute them.

Dangerous, short-sighted and historically ignorant are all apt descriptions of a policy that fails to invest in the U.S. military in peacetime. But failing to invest sufficiently in our defense capabilities in time of war is reckless in the extreme. At some point, such behavior breeds not just defeatism. It assures defeat.

Today, the U.S. Army's soaring personnel costs leave it with insufficient resources both to support our combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and to maintain the readiness of units not presently in the fight. Even worse are shortfalls in the procurement of equipment needed to conduct tomorrow's, possibly quite different wars.

The Navy's shipbuilding program is on a trajectory that is wholly inadequate to assure freedom of the seas, on which not only our security but our economic well-being critically depends. The same is true of the modernization program for the Coast Guard, an institution whose duties vastly exceed its capabilities. If anything, this mismatch will become more grievous with the proliferation of seaborne threats to this country.

The Marine Corps is facing its own serious resource, investment and manpower challenges. One symptom of its condition was last week's announcement that the service must recall some long-serving members of its Individual Ready Reserve to active duty.

The Air Force has just seen its contractors begin shutting down the Free World's only production line for highly capable, heavy-lift transport aircraft, the C-17. This plane is an indispensable part of America 's ability to project power. The planned inventory is insufficient to assure that we will be able to do so where and when we will need to in the future.

American voters are badly served by leaders who suggest that national security can be achieved on the cheap, especially in time of war. The reality is that abandoning Iraq will not save either lives or dollars in the long-run. Such a course will intensify the danger posed to our country and way of life from Islamofascists, their sponsors and friends.

The public must be told the truth. This war is not just about Iraq and will not be over if we retreat from the conflict there. It will likely get worse before it gets better. It will require greater sacrifice -- indeed, a national mobilization -- if we are to prevail. Those who suggest that the alternative is less painful and costly are at best disingenuous.

In fact, history tells us that confronting foes like ours later, rather than now, under circumstances of their choosing rather than ours, will entail a far higher price in lives and national treasure. Informed voters, given the choice, will reject the lemming-leap of defeatism and its inevitable high toll.

Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion.


Copyright 2006 Frank Gaffney. All opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.

Gaffney is a Warmongering ChickenHawk from way back. We chose this war. We didn't stay on the trail of Osama when we were attacked due to Bush's monumental incompetence and failure to do his job either before 911 or afterward. He can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. Or better yet why doesn't he suit up and hump the ruck as Indianhead would say.

In fact we are cutting back on military procurement because of the $5 billion a month it costs to occupy Iraq. That is just opperational costs. It costs more to replace worn out equipment. In addition good people are leaving the military because they have had enough. On my street where I live a captain in the Army with 10 years experience has left. He had enough and he was an officer with combat experience. The Army that went into Iraq will not be the same one that leaves. The Army will not be better from the experience.

Well David, junior officer retention is nothing new. In fiscal year 2000 the Army was experiencing about 1% greater than optimal in retaining company grade officers.

Wasn't a war going on then David, what was causing the problem then?

You do the math, if a private employer who is anxious to get an employee with the experience of being an Army officer offers about double what the officer makes in the Army what do you expect to happen?

U.S. Grant quit the Army for a civilian job in the 1850s, don't pretend this is a new problem.

He's also one of the leading neocons and has been for some time, a real behind the scenes powerbroker with this administration.

I would expect junior officer and noncom retention to be far better in wartime, they know their mens lives depend on experienced leadership. If it just stays level things are FUBAR. I don't know what the trend is, it's just how I'd read whatever numbers get presented.

I honestly can not find any current data any newer than 2003 tomhye. Junior officer retention was a problem over the thirty years I was active, some of it had to do with job satisfaction, some of it had to do with alternative opportunities.

Keeping the best and brightest was the goal, the dead wood gets asked to leave.

I'll just say there are all kinds of reasons why retaining junior officers is a problem. Competition up the ranks is just one that I've seen. It's easy to get frustrated under all those LTC's and MAJ's.

David if your neighbors heart wasn't in it he did a good thing by getting out I wish him all the best and thank him for his service.

I've said it before my commitment to the US and the Military goes allot deeper than any Elephant or Donkey.

I wish you’d stop running around sounding the alarm that the sky is falling.............. maybe long enough to have some real dialog about preventing the sky from falling.