Veterans for America's (VFA) Bobby Muller takes on Bush/Petraeus scam.

One of the Ohio State leaders of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) passed this to me asking me to forward a thank you to Bobby Muller for speaking out on behalf of military families and our troops who are not allowed by-law (the Hatch Act) to have a dissenting voice on their war. In fact, the only voice allowed at least until 2008 are those military families and troops who are members of AmericaSupportsBush.mil.

An organization located in and sponsored by the Pentagon that in itself is a violation of the Hatch Act. Let us pray that in a post-2008 America that the Hatch Act will not only be taken serious but used as a hammer to rehabilitate NEOCONS, especially those under civilian control, back into decent American values.

Here's a transcript of a segment on The News Hour last evening. The MFSO-Ohio representative said that the exchange between Bobby and LtCol. Peters, U.S. Army-Retired got a little heated. 

Assessing the burden on soldiers

MARGARET WARNER: And for more on the president's announcement today [of lowering 15 month rotations to Iraq to 12 month tours] and what it will do to ease the strain on the military [after he leaves office], we turn to Bobby Muller, president of Veterans for America, an advocacy group for soldiers. As a Marine lieutenant in Vietnam, he was shot in combat and paralyzed.

And Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters, who retired from the Army in 1998 after 22 years, he's the author of more than two dozen books on the military and warfare [including a number of fictional novels that profit from and glorify war. Major Hanafin's comment - more to come when we have the Real Ralph Peters stand-up].

Welcome, gentlemen.

The president said today this will ease the strain on the military and its families. How much, Bobby Muller, will it ease the burden?

BOBBY MULLER, Veterans for America: Very little, if at all. Understand the qualifiers in the statement. There will be nothing provided in the form of relief for all of the troops that are currently deployed. He's talking about only those that deploy after August 1st. And of the majority of those that are targeted for deployment through the year, the overwhelming majority are National Guard units, not regular Army units. They already are limited to 12-month tours. So the president's statement is, to be kind, misleading, but, to be more honest, basically a political ploy to deflect the pressure that you heard from Colin Powell, General Cody, General Casey, across the board.The senior military leadership, particularly in the Army, has been confronting the president, saying, "We cannot sustain the levels of deployments. " The price that's being paid by the troops is unconscionable."

MARGARET WARNER: Just a political ploy to deflect this pressure that's been building up?

LT. COL. RALPH PETERS (Ret.), U.S. Army: No, I don't think so. Certainly, politics always play a role in Washington, but the ability to cut back from these 15- to 12-month tours is certainly very important to soldiers.
Imagine, if you're a young soldier with a toddler back home what three months means in that toddler's life or if you're a young married soldier and your spouse is back there, when you're 20 years old or 22 years old, three months is eternity. So it's not ideal. But it's also psychologically important, Margaret, because it means the trend line is in the right direction. Tours are getting shorter, not longer.
 
And as for why we're not bringing soldiers home immediately and ending the 15-month tours, you know, "Oh, it's only those who deploy after August 1st," well, the military is a very, very complex machine. It involves planning, aircraft, ships, training schedules.

And, by the way, if you ask any good soldier [is there any other kind, oh, the few bad apples that follow orders from the Pentagon and their chain-of-command then get abandoned as the Chain of Command runs for cover every time someone cries war crime? WE thought they were ALL heros? Major Hanafin] in Iraq, "Would you like to come home three months early, but the price is we're going to rip some other soldier away from his family three months early?" Well, I think that soldier would say, "No, don't do it."

Because, again, to replace those soldiers, you have to disappoint somebody else. [And as long as that somebody else is not a draftee so what?] And I just think this is the best the president can do in the corner he's painted himself into. [Corner he/Petraeus have painted themselves into? Is that a defense of Bush or criticism?]

Mental impact of multiple tours

MARGARET WARNER: Is that the case that, in fact, Bobby Muller, that, in fact, the president really couldn't, if he wants to sustain 140,000 troops there, could not cut back the 15-months tours that I gather, what, your statement yesterday said nearly half the soldiers currently serving in Iraq are, in fact, fulfilling.

BOBBY MULLER: You have to understand, one of the defining criteria of this war that people have got to pay attention to is multiple deployments. All of the regular Army units that are scheduled for deployment after the president's deadline of August 1st have already been there. We're talking about people serving multiple tours. Same thing with National Guard units. Even with the National Guard that historically have never been deployed like this, multiple deployments. And what we're finding, if you look at the Department of Defense's own reports that, every time you redeploy a soldier, there's a 60 percent increase in the likelihood of psychological damage, those kinds of wounds. It's a devastating toll. We have frontline troops that are basically severely damaged. And if you can willingly, consciously redeploy them, as the mental health task force at the Department of Defense itself said last year, we are knowingly compounding injuries to those who've already served because of these redeployment practices.

MARGARET WARNER: What about that point? This was in the Army's own survey that found that, after the third or fourth deployment, the risk of having post-traumatic stress disorder grew exponentially.

RALPH PETERS: Well, if you stand on a corner and watch a traffic accident day after day, year after year, your stress level will go up. But let's not forget... [Can you get any colder, callous, and RUDE, Colonel? - You lost that debate going in! You have got to be a Stolen Valor NUT - the Mustang Major]

MARGARET WARNER: And -- excuse me -- but is Bobby Muller right, that, in fact, this policy does nothing about multiple deployments, it just says, each time you're deployed, it will only be for 12 months with a 12-month back at home in between?

RALPH PETERS: [Note at this point the network stopped referring to Peters as COLONEL] Margaret, one of the reasons we've had so much success in the last 15 months in Iraq on the ground is because we now have experienced leaders and soldiers there. And let's not lose sight of this. Those soldiers are re-enlisting at record and near-record rates. As General Petraeus said on Capitol Hill, the 3rd Infantry Division, on its third tour in Iraq, halfway through the fiscal year has already exceeded its re-enlistment rates.

Now, unless you believe our soldiers are mercenaries who couldn't get another job, [now who is putting THAT notion in anyone's head? Did either Bobby Muller or Ms. Warner bring up anything about mercenaries or folks who cannot make it outside the military? NO THEY DID NOT. Colonel Peterans must have those notions ON HIS MIND for some reason? Maj. Hanafin] that should tell you something. Our soldiers love their buddies; many of them love the military; they love serving their country. Not every American understands that anymore, but they do. And I would ask you: If things are so terrible, why are we seeing record re-enlistment rates?
 
Debating stop-loss policy

MARGARET WARNER: Why are we seeing record re-enlistment rates?

BOBBY MULLER: I wound up being a very militant activist against the war in Vietnam. I was a Marine infantry officer. The week before I got shot, they asked me, "Would I extend my tour?" And I said, "Yes." It's about the troops; it's about the people you serve with. It's about a sense of obligation and commitment, [to one another not the chain of command, certainly not any civilian leader or politician of any party] particularly if you have experience, to try and protect them.We go to military bases. We are talking to these troops. They are being stop-lossed. They're being denied the ability to leave [the Army upon retirement].

MARGARET WARNER: Explain that, stop-losses, now, you're told...

BOBBY MULLER: OK, we were just down -- a couple of weeks ago, we were down at Fort Hood in Texas, largest Army facility. The commanding general of Fort Hood, he came on and he said, "No longer will you be able to leave [retire from] the military after March 27th."

And that means people that have, in some cases, served five years, expecting to get out two weeks down the road, were told...

RALPH PETERS: [Rudely interrupts] Wait, Bobby...[Now watch this Bozo later have the gall to call Bobby a bully after how many attemps to bait him? Major Hanafin]

BOBBY MULLER: Excuse me. Excuse me.

RALPH PETERS: Did he say that to every soldier at Fort Hood? [Colonel Peters is afraid that Bobby is onto something, AND as confirmed in the program transcript Bobby said nothing about "every soldier at Fort Hood."]

BOBBY MULLER: Excuse me. Excuse me.

RALPH PETERS: Because I don't think that's true.[What that stop loss is not true, that the back door draft is an illusion. Tell that to the military families who have been intimidated into not protesting the Back Door Draft even if they legally could - the Hatch Act].

BOBBY MULLER: Well, it's true.

RALPH PETERS: He [Is that how Retired Colonel's refer to Generals?] told you at Fort Hood...[Ditto-this clown is going to call Bobby a bully, now if I were in the interview with Colonel Peters he would really know what a bully is, even one that calls him Sir.]

BOBBY MULLER: You cannot leave after -- you could not leave -- no, we're talking about the 4th Infantry Division...

RALPH PETERS: Every soldier at Ford Hood? [At this point the moderator should have told Colonel Peters to be quiet, he is being RUDE, let Bobby finish then Peters can have a rebuttal. If I were the moderator I would have done so lose my job or not.]

BOBBY MULLER: ... these guys were told, "You cannot leave," stop-loss on March 27th.

RALPH PETERS: How many? How many? How many? [How many is just like the increasing number of dead in Iraq on both sides of THE CAUSE, who cares how many? One is too many when our nation is not asked to sacrifice or commit to the War on Oil, I mean Terror]

BOBBY MULLER: Which means -- let me finish -- if you were going to -- if you serve five years, and you were going to get out in two weeks, and you're stop-lossed, with a March 27th drop-dead date, that means at a minimum you've got three more months before your unit redeploys, you've got a 12-month now deployment, you've got three months when you come back. You're tacking two years on to people who had served five and thought they were getting [out] -- they were going to be released from service. It's a fundamental violation, so don't talk to me about the damage that's being done, because it's severe [It is evidently way past time to challenge fraudulent enlistments in the courts given what Bobby says is TRUE. Meaning if a Military Recruiter or the Pentagon has mislead a recruit, they should be able to sue the Pentagon for breech of contract. Major Hanafin]

RALPH PETERS: You've got to be honest in the math. Now, I just don't believe that every soldier in 4th Infantry Division is stop-lossed. Prove it, and I'm willing to say it. [Bobby never said every soldier in the 4th ID was stop losses, Colonel Peters is putting words in Bobby's mouth that are recorded nowhere in this transcript. Major Hanafin. The Colonel knew full well what Bobby meant. Bobby was talking only about those troops eligible for retirement being stop losed not every troop in the 4th ID. Maj. Hanafin]

BOBBY MULLER: OK...[OOPS, the Colonel shoud never have challenged Bobby Muller to prove something. Bobby will go above and beyond proving something he said, escpecailly when someone is being RUDE to him and his CAUSE].

RALPH PETERS: But wait, wait, now my turn now. [This BOZO is not only RUDE but acts like he is in Pre-School] But let's be honest about stop-loss. This is sort of a myth of the left. [Colonel Peters has not only tried to be intimidating and bullying but he is downright RUDE and childish for a zero, I definetely cannot believe he is a Mustang Colonel. I know at lease one Mustang Colonel who must be rolling over in his grave in discust at this petty war profiteer and big-time war monger. Hope his intelligence reporting was better than his intelligence. and manners. Major Hanafin]
 
Every soldier who signs up, as you know, has an up to eight-year reserve commitment. The recruiter made that plain to me when I signed up as a private. I would serve -- I was supposed to serve three years active-duty, but they could call on me for eight years. [Bobby is not only talking about extended IRR tours, that is not how Stop Loss is defined nor implemented. How come Military Retiree Peters does not address what Bobby is really talking about? Stop loss means those who are eligible to retire plus those who are being kept beyond to the maximum service commitment allowed by-law when Our Nation is not in a National Emergency? If Colonel Peters is a member of the Military Officers Associaton of America, both HE and THEY have gone on record that WE THE PEOPLE are not in a war for our national survival, this IS NOT a National Emergency so THE DRAFT is not called for nor needed.  It WE are not in a war for our very survival as a nation, and THE DRAFT is uncalled for, then why is it necessary to force our troops voluntarily or otherwise to serve beyond what they expected to serve. The Colonel said that not only are reenlistment UP, but troop moral is so high, that those who desire to leave the Army and Marine Corps should be allowed to. Weed out those who are silenced by the Hatch Act or intimidation from those who really believe in THEIR CAUSE. Maj. Hanafin]

As an officer, I could be called back to duty tonight. It's endless, although I'd be more trouble than I'm worth.[That's the second most intelligent thing Colonel Peters has said during this interview].

Stop-loss is old. This is not a new thing. In time of crisis, [say what, what crisis? A crisis in military manpower is defined as any time the Pentagon cannot sustain the active duty force with the National Guard then Selective Service kicks in. A crisis means we are in a National Emergency for our very existence as a nation, that also would mean kicking in the draft] soldiers can be extended. They know it. [What the Colonel meant to say is that in time of crisis in order to avoid THE DRAFT or asking the American people to make a full commitment to the War on Terror, troops must be extended until they refuse to be. Makes sense to me. That is why I have to agree with the "They volunteered" crowd. Until the troops on active duty prove Colonel Peters wrong, and they have yet to do so in the numbers that get the attention of both Congress and the American people, is it any wonder apathy runs high in our nation?

I almost want to agree with Colonel Peters. Why whine about how the troops are being treated or cared for when they become Veterans if most are going to stay in the military anyway? Why be as concerned as we who queston the war are if the morale of our troops is high, and they enjoy what they are doing? Let us see a show of hands. How many seriously believe that the vast majority of volunteers, or even the few Colonel Peters claims is in Bobby Mullers corner are going to make the military a career?

And I'm really tired of people telling all the bad stuff about the military when our soldiers really believe what they're doing. [Seriously if we listen to this guy, and really believe him then why should the American public care if GIs believe in what their doing - flag waving. That said, fine then allow anyone who has served a basic peacetime requirement get out if they so choose. That means losing any reup or head hunting bonus. Then allow only the so-called volunteers to stay in Iraq as long as their hearts desire.] And I spend time with our soldiers. I was just down at Fort Bragg with the special forces this week. Last month, I was out with the Marines at Miramar and Pendleton. And these people believe in the cause; they believe in what they're doing. They love the service. Not everybody is bitter [Bobby did not say everybody was bitter or WE are really in deep kimchee, but people like Colonel Peters are working on it. I'm tired of hearing NEOCON political officers that I see as no different than Soviet political officers throwing around flag waving rhetoric like, "the cause," no more than I would appreciate Commisars throwing around loyalty to THE PARTY to keep the troops in line with the Communist Party. Colonel Peters writes a few fantasy novels about the American Civil War, and even claims to have some knowledge of that war. Colonel, how many Confederate and related rebels died for THE CAUSE?] Major. Hanafin

Preparing future military readiness

MARGARET WARNER: Let me ask you both before we have to end this. Does this all play into what both General Cody was saying last week, which is really the Army's getting out of balance here, and, two, what Colin Powell says, which is whoever's the next president, he's going to inherit a military that really can't indefinitely sustain 140,000 in Iraq and 20,000 to 25,000 in Afghanistan?

BOBBY MULLER: You might think that Bobby Muller is parroting myths created by the left in this country when I talk about stop-loss, [Well said Mr. Muller, well said] but Colin Powell is not parroting any left-wing fantasies. General Casey, General Cody, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullin, they're on record. This is not sustainable. There are people being held...

RALPH PETERS: But that's a different issue.[What is the difference if we leave Iraq now or when not sustainable is reached. Oh, that's right the mainstream media will be coming back this time next year to report on the 5000 plus killed in Iraq for THE CAUSE. Major Hanafin]

BOBBY MULLER: I suggest that you may be out of touch with the military today if you think that all of these people that sign up for four years or five years of active military duty really expected -- just like the National Guard -- that they would wind up being extended for, additionally, a couple of years beyond their contract period? [Darn Bobby you should have run for President instead of John Kerry! Well said, well said.]

No, sir, they're not expecting that. They're not reading the fine print. The recruiters are not saying that. The recruiters, in fact, are telling National Guard, "You serve one year overseas, you're going to be given five years at home." They've violated that; they're not doing that.[It Colonel Peters seriously believes military recruiters are going to given any downside while trying to make a sale, either he is delusional or LYING. Major Hanafin]

MARGARET WARNER: All right, we're about out of time. But, gentlemen, let me let Ralph Peters in. Could you comment on what Powell had to say, though? Is that the larger picture here?

RALPH PETERS: First of all, you changed the subject. And being a bully doesn't help. [Oh, I'm mistaken, the Colonel may have not called Bobby a bully but Ms. Warner??? HUM - sounds like whining to me. THIS IS A NO WHINE ZONE COLONEL, just like your attitude toward our military families. Major Hanafin]

Now, I agree with Colin Powell. I agree with Cody. But I also agree with Petraeus. They're both right. Petraeus has a war to fight. Cody's mission as vice chief of staff of the Army is to protect the Army and preserve it and grow it for the next fight. And so the Army has real problems. It's tired. The equipment is worn out. I would never say there aren't problems. [The way to fix those problems is by intimidating people like Ms. Warner into silence, stamping out dissent as UnAmerican as Nazi Germany, and implement the draft by proxy of creating a National Emergency the easy way - PICK A WAR WITH IRAN AND SYRIA THAT WILL GIVE US WWIII, for Colonel Peters to write fantasy stories about glorfying WAR. He certainly does not fit the image of the Academy graduate or warrior. The warrior is the first to want Peace and last to glorify or passionately want WAR.]

What I am saying is I do spend a lot of time with our troops. Ask the troops. [We can ask Iraq War Veterans, and we can ask National Guard and Reserve troops their opinions and views pro and con on their war, but WE cannot ask active duty troops for their partisan political views. Colonel you are ignorant to suggest we can, and you either have prevously violated the Hatch Act just as passionately as you would violate the Geneva Convention. When Bush Torture Inc., leaves office, remember that even Senator John McCain drew the line on torture and violation of the Geneva Convention, that alone will come back to haunt him IF he continues the Bush/Cheney/Peters torture policies. I personally hope and pray as a Retired Military officer that both violation of the Hatch Act AND violation of the Geneva Convention will be criminal offences. Major Hanafin].

And I'll tell you: Morale is remarkably high. [Yep that's a MIRACLE] I don't understand it myself. They believe in what they're doing, [they better believe in THE CAUSE, or they will get canned just like Admiral Fallon or worse fragged by friendly fire or raped by ONE Bad apple Marine as the Marine Corps looks the other way] and I believe in them.

MARGARET WARNER: We have to leave it there. Ralph Peters, Bobby Muller, thank you both.

RALPH PETERS: My pleasure. [What gall, he has the nerve to call Ms. Warner a bully when she gave him the last NEOCON word. You can tell Colonel Peter's bible is Stolen Valor. Watch for his next fantasy fiction novel to be about how valor was stolen from Iraqnam Vets even before they leave Iraq. Major Hanafin]

What Major Hanafin really has to say:

The Colonel was too busy writing fiction that glorifies war to lobby Congress or his president to shorten tours for our troops, where has he and Bush until NOW, the electon of 2008 when their butt is in the fire? How many married troops are between the age of 20 and 22 years? That may have been a factor during Vietnam, but even given the middle, lower-middle, and working CLASS the Army and Marine Corps get officers and new recrits, young people today tend to marry later in life. It is not the young single GI that is feeling the burden of deployments the same way as the older careerists, nor is it the service member in general. On active duty, Our Troops have no voice of dissent, the Hatch Act makes that not only illegal but punishable under UCMJ. Our troops can only say good things about or in support of their Commander-In-Chief even if it means destruction of our ground force capability. Our troops today DO NOT care about what shape our forces will be in five or ten years from NOW. They have to fight with the Army and equipment they are given not that which they deserve, espcailly IF the Air Force and Navy has their way with the so-called Peace Dividend and back stabbing over the BIG DEFENSE BUDGET for state of the art aircraft and ships.

"Psychologically important," THAT, is about the second intelligence thing Colonel Peters says this entire interview. His views, in line with Bush and Gen. Petraeus, are intended for psychological impact, public relations, political rhetoric, and nothing else. Regardless the psychological warfare used against our own troops, and despite those gullable enough to buy it, shorter tours does not a Natonal Commitment make. Frankly, our troops on active duty, with a little encouragement from their families, divorce if necessary, need to vote on Colonel Petraeus, I mean Bush, I mean Peters, with their vote in 2008 or their feet the next time a reenlistment bonus is held dangling in front of a rabbit to make it run faster. If our troops continue to prove Colonel Peter's right, and reenlistment and retention rates are as honky dory as he says they are, the apathetic American people just might leave our troops over in Iraqnam until THEY decide it is time to come Home to War.

EXCUSES to buy time for the Hand Off to an anxious John McCain willing to inherit Bush's mistakes the same way he was willing to let Bush surrogates trash his military reputation and service in 2000 then like the weak warrior he really is bent to kiss Bush's ring and has been kissing it since 2000. To me that amounts to giving Bush the vasoline during 2000 with a smile.
 
That's great Colone, let us continue playing off one troop against another. Is that your rational Colonel Peter's for being a Bush apologists who glorifies war in fiction novels? Take a look at how many fictional novels this glory hunter has written about war. To me I have no respect for any Veterans service who makes a profit off war, I don't care if his writing is superior to me or sucks. Colonel try convincing the Mustang Major, and a former Army Dad, that you care about our troops, and this moderate independent just might someday buy your right-wing garbage. He cares about our troops that's for sure - only about those troops who agree with HIM, and he can make a quick buck off of.

Unless of course he and his idol Bush seriously asks the Nation to sacrifice and commit their children to fight and die in Iraq? No need to do that when we can exploit the most patriotic among us and intimidate any dissent by playing the Do Not Call our highly paid troops mercenaries card. No, our troops are not mercenaries, or they would be smart enough to get out and find employment with Blackwater. They may not get rich, but Mercs pay more than dying for THE CAUSE. Oh, I forgot most of Blackwater, a mercenrary military outfit, are former GIs turned Soldier of Fortune. Bobby Muller and Margaret Warner cannot call our troops mercenaries, but for me, if the shoe fits. Just take a gander at how much entry level troops are enticed with compared to what anyone (draftee or volunteer) got to go to Nam regardless if they wanted to or not. Major Hanafin.

So much for LtCol Peter's feelings for any of our troops or family members with PTSD. He sounds like a broken record right out of Stolen Valor another fictional account of Vietnam that claimed both PTSD and Agent Orange were fantasies made up by Vietnam Victims of America (VVA) and related liberals. Does the Colonel really want to know how many liberals infest VVA today, not too many. Does the Colonel know how many We Want to Feel Good About the War our government lost going in when they were younger claimed Agent Orange was fictional as your novels and are NOW trying to file claims with the VA for that fiction?

Oh, I see so that rationale for endless deployments to Iraq or Afghanistan is to provide combat experience to leaders and soldiers because the body count isn't high enough? Colonel Peters can't write about the glories of war, or make a buck off glorifying war, if he has to deal with body counts. In his own words, "I'm really tired of people telling all the bad stuff about the military when our soldiers really believe what they're doing." Colonel you only need to ask POW Against John Kerry, Colonel Bud Day THE TRUTH about what liars military recruiters have been, ask Colonel Day how he felt when as a Medal of Honor recipient he was embarrassed when told he had to pay a co-pay or even pay for the life long medical care military recruitmers promised him? "How many young Americans who have a get out of draft free card could benefit from the same logic and excuse Peter's is using to divert Ms. Warner's question by changing the subject. If he were Rush Limbaugh, Peters would have just hung the phone up on Warner to silence her intelligent questioning from getting too close to THE TRUTH.

As long as the casualties and fallen within a unit does not approach the levels of Vietnam or worse, where is the incentive for 'regular' troops who passionately desire a military career at all costs to get out? As a Retired Military Officer, it is more the Mustang in me that tells me that if anything it would be dependent and family pressure that will end the Iraq War not all the anti-war demonstratons in the world or an apathetic America.  What they (active duty troops) should at least be able to do is collective bargaining in order to demand pay raises and reup packages that keep pace with the luxurious recruitment packages younger, entry level "single" troops get. At the mini