Topic category:  Other/General

by Jim Kouri, CPP

Two former Bill Clinton cabinet members released a report intended to support the current liberal-left mantra that the "US military is broken." The report warns that immediate action must be taken to repair damaged morale and to make sure Iraqi security forces are ready to assume duties as soon as possible.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected the conclusions, however. He rhetorically asked: what military are they looking at? Today's military or the military of the 1990s?

The report, which is being touted by the intellectual giants in the Democrat Party and the news media as the proof of problems in the US military, was prepared by former top officials in the administration of President Bill Clinton, led by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former defense secretary William Perry.

"While the US military has performed superbly in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, our ground forces are under enormous strain," said the report by the former Clinton administration officials.

"This strain, if not soon relieved, will have highly corrosive and potentially long-term effects on the force," they said.They accused the current administration of failing to adequately size and equip the force for the post invasion occupation of Iraq, saying it created "a real risk of 'breaking the force.'"

Faltering morale among an overburdened force and eroding public support for the war would threaten the ability of the army and and marines "to maintain sufficient forces to prosecute the war to a successful conclusion."

The military is "in a race against time - attempting to create an effective Iraqi internal security force and corresponding civil structure before the patience of the US centers of gravity - the American people and American soldier - are exhausted." Oh, My God!!! The sky is falling!!! The sky is falling!!!

Had only Ms. Albright and Mr. Perry been so concerned about the erosion of our military when they were in charge during the scandal-ridden reign of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Their assessments contrast sharply with the optimism of senior US officials. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told a press briefing "this force is not broken". He said that the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 had shown the power of the US military.

Clinton's well-known dislike for the military led to his intentional neglect of his primary responsibility: the protection of the American people. During the Clinton Administration, in less than three years, deployments for humanitarian missions increased while manpower decreased from 2.1 million to 1.6 million.

The decrease in armed forces was called "reinvention" of government. While telling Americans that Clinton was making deep cuts in the federal bureaucracy, the media failed to inform Americans exactly what part of that "bureaucracy" was being cut. It was the military who suffered the cuts in order to make Clinton a hero.

Of the 305,000 employees removed from the federal payroll, 286,000 (or 90%) were military cuts. The statistics for America's defense during the Clinton years reveal the true feelings of the administration toward those who served in the military. The Army was cut from 18 divisions to 12. The Navy was reduced from 546 ships to 380. Air Force flight squadrons were cut from 76 to a mere 50. There were reductions in tanks, armored vehicles, rocket launchers, special forces units, etc., etc., etc.

In addition, President Clinton loosened America's ban on the export of supercomputers and other high-technology products to Communist China; this allowed Beijing to improve the accuracy of its intercontinental missiles. A prime American beneficiary of this Clinton policy was Loral Space & Communications chairman Bernard Schwartz, the single largest contributor to the Clinton campaign and to the Democrat Party.

In 1996 it was discovered that Chinese spies had stolen nuclear design secrets from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the most damaging security breach in American history -- giving China the ability to produce and deliver nuclear warheads via submarines, mobile missiles, and long-range missiles. A 1998 Senate Governmental Affairs Committee concluded that foreign campaign contributions Clinton had received "were facilitated by individuals with extensive ties to China."

Apparently, while reducing our military capabilities here in the US, President Clinton was helping the Chinese build up their own capabilities. Not much has changed since the days when Clinton marched in London under the flag of North Vietnam.

As far as morale, perhaps the Democrats should stop their vitrolic ranting in which they compare US soldiers to Nazis (Senator Durbin) or terrorists (Senator Kerry) or managers of torture chambers (Senator Kennedy).

Mr. Perry and Ms. Albright would do also better if they wrote and released a statement apologizing for their silence when their boss was deconstructing the US Armed Forces and ignoring terrorist threats, than conducting politicized studies to aid the people who despise the military but see an opportunity to once again blame the Bush Administration.

Jim Kouri
Chief of Police Magazine (Contributing Editor)

Biography - Jim Kouri

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for a number of organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores. Kouri holds a bachelor of science in criminal justice and master of arts in public administration and he's a board certified protection professional.