The administration that never ceases to amaze amazes yet again:
Posted by DeLong at September 30, 2003 08:14 AM | TrackBackPolitical Aims: thoughts on politics, religion and media: THE LAST STRAW I've never felt more strongly that this is a time to write to our elected representatives to make my voice heard. I've also never felt less like those letters and phone calls would do any good. How can officials even breathe the word "retention" out of the same mouth that has denied Army Reserve soldiers in Kuwait the same R&R leave program that those in Iraq have been granted?
My husband is a Reservist on active duty and stationed in Kuwait. His original orders were for 365 days total, including training and mobilization before they left for the Middle East and demobilization time when the unit returned. We had been told to expect this return by Thanksgiving. Then, like so many others, the unit's orders were extended to comply with the one-year-in-country rule for Reservists and Guardsmen in that theater. Now we hope they come home in the spring.
To combat the fatigue and general demoralization among the troops, and to try to stem a potential exodus from the Reserves after this extended deployment is over, the Army announced last week a 15-day R&R leave program, the largest since Vietnam. Our unit signed people up for slots. Rob signed up to be home for our wedding anniversary later this month. He was given permission to purchase his own ticket to expedite travel. He, along with many others, did, for $1,200.
Now he has been told that the leave program only applies to those stationed in Iraq proper, and his unit's program is all but canceled. At least he got his $1,200 back...
Somebody put it eloquently: this admnistration takes good care of its backers, but scr*ws its supporters.
Posted by: Barry on September 30, 2003 02:14 PMProf Delong,
I know you hate the current President. But your credibility as a critic worth taking seriously is harmed by your relentless overreaching. On Friday, you headlined a link to Stephen Roach with the claim that "Stephen Roach thinks that the Bush Administration is about to make another huge economic policy mistake." In fact, Mr. Roach made no mention of the Bush administration in the link or anywhere in the ENTIRE page. His complaint was against Republicans AND Democrats in Congress. Last time I checked, that's a different branch of government altogether than the one the President occupies.
Now, you claim that the Bush administration is somehow responsible for this reservist not being able to take his R&R as initially promised. Sure, you can pin the blame for the war occurring in the first place on Bush. In that roundabout sense, of course the Bush administration is to blame. But on the narrower point about this reservist and his failure to come home, only the most rabidly partisan will assign the fault for this apparent snafu to this administration. Unless you have information to the contrary, it sure seems to me that this individual's superior officer is the source of the problem.
You're drifting into Krugman territory where I read I will read you for my own amusement and not to have my beliefs seriously challenged.
Kevin