In a foreign policy speech at a Washington think tank, Sen. Hillary Clinton chided President Bush for not thanking her husband for handing the current administration such a strong military.
[Full Story]
And while we are at it let’s also thank Mr. Clinton for the CIA he built up during his eight years and it’s analytical abilities. Another bravo goes to the recession he passed down to us late in his last term.
Sorry Mrs. Clinton, I was part of that military serving under your husband and we were sent off willy-nilly all over the world and then not supported by his administration. We are a strong military despite what Mr. Clinton did, but we could have been stronger. The Navy fleet almost cut in half is not a sign of strength. Longer deployments due to less assets and more commitments is not a sign of strength. When the military had to spend the money on all of the support and fuel costs for sorties flown in support of his agenda they were not replaced. To maintain operations, funds were taken from other needed programs and weapon stockpiles as they were used were also not replaced. Cruise missiles truly became fire-and-forget, they forgot to order more and at the start of the Bush administration they had to rush to get production going again. I know many of the aircraft in Navy on shore bases become Non-Operational or not ready for combat action due to the crunch on money for parts and fuel. But to be fair, the Clinton administration did try to remove the urinals from Navy Carriers as a sign of gender equality.
I did so much enjoy being experimented on with the endless social programs forced down on the military. We were ordered to constant sexual harassment training programs while at the same time the actions occurring in the Oval Office were what was called “red light” behavior in our training manuals. The Clinton administration loved heaping paperwork on us. In our service records there is something called a page 13 where other entries can be added. We actually had to sign statements acknowledging following the buddy system. Where we signed that we would only go out on liberty only in the company of someone else. This and many other absurd agreements filled the page 13s. While the Clinton administration was doing everything in it’s power to stop logging, they were also assuring the continuous need for dead tree products in the form of millions of Page 13s.
Oh and another thanks goes to the Clinton administration for Jean-Bertrand Aristide who they helped to install. I am sure the Haitians are really giving out a shout out for this action. I was on the U.S.S Eisenhower (CVN-69) at the time and we flew off all of our jets and when we came back to Norfolk we loaded hundreds of Army Helicopters onboard the carrier. While this was a rare opportunity to be able to work side-by-side with our brother soldiers, this was hardly efficient use of an Aircraft Carrier. While Jimmy Carter was negotiating in Haiti we were the bat used to make sure the Haitians accepted the deal he brokered. Why is it in recent days I have heard no mention of either ex-presidents Carter or Clinton in regard to the mess in Haiti? At the time there was plenty of punditry on the assessment of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, we already knew exactly what kind of president he would become. An easy way to become a political prophet is to look at the nations that Mr. Carter has negotiated a deal with and know that they will become a trouble spot. Nicaragua, North Korea, Haiti led to a Nobel Peace Prize. No wonder the Holy Father hasn’t received the prize. He mistakenly thought that you had to bring about lasting peace and has worked tirelessly towards that end.
4 comments
Oh yeah he did such a great job during his term in office that we lost many good people and had to put up with so much nonsense that it was absurd. It’s no wonder we are having the current troubles for the soldiers who are serving in harm’s way right now with outdated materials. God help our soldiers if we have another like him in office.
I’ve wondered the very same thing: where is the criticism of the Clinton administration for putting a regime in place that didn’t have any real legs to it? One can’t help but wonder if Kosovo will slide back into chaos in a matter of time as well. If anything, it’s an argument in favor of the Bush administration taking its time and gradually handing the reigns of power in Iraq over to a stable, moral government.
I resigned my commission while under the Clinton administration. Was he the only reason? No, there were a lot of reasons that all began to converge until I finally resigned, but I can say that he was part of the mix.
I was in the CG reserves during the Clinton years. Sexual Harassment training consumed 1/12 of our training hours.
That the military performed so well is a reflection on the values and spirit of our military.
How many flag rank officers promoted during the Clinton years are still in? And look at the high regard Clinton’s General, Wesley Clark, is held in by his brother officers.