Marines Stretched Thin By Iraq

The war in Iraq is wearing out Marine Corps equipment much faster than aniticipated according to a new report. Lawrence Korb is someone whose research and opinions I respect. When he says something I'm inclined to listen very closely. If the full report is a bit much to read through here's a summary. It's disturbing the Marines are taking prepositioned materials from other critical areas such as Europe. It's also time to begin properly budgeting for this war. Funding on these levels as supplementals is nuts and it's detrimental to the effort and to our national security. It also hides the effect of the war costs from the budget and deficit.

If these rich Republicans are so bent on driving their Suburbans, Expeditions and Hummers I say we make them pay for the war. Let's face it we ALL know what this effort is about: OIL. If you're driving anything that's getting under 20 mpg you pay double for your gas. Triple if it's under 15. Charge them when they renew their inspections and/or registrations based on miles driven for the year. Then roll back those tax cuts Bush gave the top 1% of Americans and use that to pay for the war. If they object give them a choice: higher taxes or two soldiers from the family sent to Iraq. Let's start with Jenna and Barbara. Why can't they learn to fly Apache helicopters?

Also, that Marine call up feels an awfully lot like a draft.