In a move that slashes the throat of military synergy and promises rewards for Republican cronies, Secretary Gates did Dick Cheney’s bidding in the name of Obama. Oh what a tangled web we weave when Republicans are left in place to deceive. McDonnell loses 6,100 of those new jobs.
“With so many of these social programs that are being expanded in Washington, I think they’re cutting defense facilities to pay for them. That’s outrageous.” – McDonnell
In a pitiful attempt to cobble together a “bipartisan” response, he used his “close” ties with Democrats to pull together two mayors for a response. Let’s see, the mayors of two cities significantly affected by the job losses. Where are the close bipartisan relationships with Democrats that matter and have influence in this? And his argument against closure of the Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) wasn’t justified by the requirements of national security; you know, a real principle. No, he cited the superficial explanation of the JFCOM role (while swiping at social programs) and talked about facilities, clearly unaware that the command has never fully fulfilled its role and scope nor accomplished its mission for lack of support from recalcitrant military leadership, resistant to civil authority.
Rumsfeld started this dangerous silliness by rejecting the command structure that took 50 years to evolve and actually won wars including the Cold War. Gates is Rumsfeld lite. And he is ripping the brain and heart out of Goldwater-Nichols. This opens us to a level of fraud, waste, and abuse not even the KBRs of the world could have imagined: redundant capabilities, uneducated senior leadership, and uncoordinated planning.
And McDonnell calls for a state commission! What? Are we going to resurrect the Army of Virginia? Nullification of DoD?
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