Call out the Marines! Contributed by Zero Ponsdorf
The call-up will affect Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve,
a segment of the reserves that consists mainly of those who have left
active duty but still have time remaining on their eight-year military
obligations.
Generally, Marines
enlist for four years, then serve the other four years either in the
regular Reserves, where they are paid and train periodically, or in the
Individual Ready Reserve. Marines in the IRR are obligated to report
only one day a year but can be involuntarily recalled to active duty.
[Update] Caught this from a recently discharged Marine.
After the U.S. pulled out of Somalia in 1993, and even after the
Marines pulled out of Beirut ten years earlier, the enemy said, "The
U.S. is a 'paper tiger'; they're weak and they have no resolve. If you
want to get rid of them, all you have to do is kill one of their
soldiers and they'll pack up and leave." That's definitely not a very
good characterization for us to portray to the world. We went into a
country, removed its leader and completely turned its infrastructure
upside down. I do agree with the president when he says that we have a
commitment to the Iraqi people. We absolutely do, now. Could you
imagine what would happen if, now, we just gathered up all of our
people and equipment and left? There would be unbelievable civil war
(I think), and what do you think the rest of the world would think of
us then?
I'm neither defending nor criticizing President Bush
here, and like I said, I don't know what the Big Plan is. I know that
Winston Churchill said, "Never, never, never believe any war will be
smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can
measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who
yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is
no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforseeable and
uncontrollable events," but even knowing that, I still think that a little more planning could have gone into this.
Just a bit of curious news plus the view of someone who may be recalled. A kid who quotes Churchill no less.
Contributed by Zero Ponsdorf on August 22, 2006 at 07:26 PM in , , |