Must be some strong koolaide over there at the liberal bastions of free living:-)) Let's see if we are tracking your logic: An article appears nationally depicting public employee factual data--verifiable six ways from Sunday by the least able among us (apparently, also several steps above your ability---how did you ever find your way to the internet in the first place?)---and you will now declare this data to be a lie? And you cannot be bothered to post your link where you "discovered" this lie? How about that (low whistle of disbelief)? You just "know" this is a lie by magic? Or is it divine inspiration that moved you to this conclusion? Occam's razor suggests that your deluded insight comes from unidentified voices in your...

Shouldsa moved all your stuff into the path of that other, more politically popular hurricane....or, failing that--blame Bush loudly and continuously....help should be forthcoming:-)) Snark aside, I hate that you went through this crap. God bless you for showing those of us newer soldiers the way forward in bad situations. From our vietnam-era vets like you--an Armed Forces of excellence sprang up from the hollow armies of the carter years. Thank you...I probably owe you my life.

Pot houses...you missed pot houses:-))

Perhaps, then, the problem is the voter?

Rent-a-Mob, Inc. Same tools that show up for anti-war protests when a repub is in the WH. Ever wonder what principles, if any, the anti-war left truly hold? Think about it: Suddenly war is cool? Just because "their guy" wins an election? Really? The leftards' hypocrisy on full display....

What those drives contain may not have been as important as what they did not contain; a case could be made for allowing cells of terrorists to merely "think" they are compromised when they are not. That is disruptive as heck, and could be the bigger bang for the buck. The money aspects of this data is the bigger prize. And that money ain't going anywhere fast....we can (and have) freeze these accounts quickly, and then take our time unraveling the method of payment that finances these cells. Those patterns will also alert us to intel not contained on these disks. Not saying it was wise--I do not know the assessments on unaffiliated terror cells worldwide against direct AQ-controlled cells....but it isn't hard to imagine using...

Truman: Truman Doctrine. Perhaps you've heard of it? Great; now read and try to understand it. JFK: Took a half-hearted swipe at Cuba, a Russian Ally....and then had that little battle of will in October. Resolve...determined resolve painted the US firmly behind this Truman doctrine thingie....making the other side react and adjust to this reality. LBJ: Struggled with it, but placed US firmly in SE Asia--challenging Russian/ Chinese influence in their backyard, region of influence. Not a great example, but followed the pattern... RMN: Opened China in more ways than might be obvious. He drove a wedge between earstwhile allies and led the Russians to bolster their Sino-border defenses, drawing resources away from the western...

The US did not have astanding army before WWII? I would ask you then, who was that with Gen Blackjack Pershing down in Nogales, AZ? And, if we tread around, didn't TR's rough riders take a flanking attack for the "regulars?" Dude....get a grip, we have had a standing army basically since the founding of the point. Small, but standing.

And WWI power was all navy anyway. Owning the seas was the name of the game. Just ask Mahan.

But, as said: Imagination:)

It was after WWII that we created the modern department of defense, an outgrowth of the war department and the same act created the CIA from the OSS. To think that this re-organization created a standing army is to not read history between wars. Yeah,...

Use your imagination a little! If we had not intervened in WWI, but instead armed to protect ourselves and engaged in our capitalist ways--what do you think "could have happened" following the great war if indeed we let it play out all by itself???

I'll tell you: By the time Germany collpased, we'd be sitting on 1) The largest standing military undepleted and un-war weary; 2) The national reserves of all the belligerents we did trade with, and 3) a uniquely powerful position not seen since the pinnacle of Rome.

How is this not also the making of a great power? Your way resulted in multi-lateral world power sharing (we propped up the old guard)...and we know how well that worked out for the rest of the century...

Killer: I just got here, but agree with most folks: You are not well schooled in economics. I think you would do well to study the effect of monetary velocity as it relates to inflation: By the time x-amount of dollars from the retail sale of z-amount of widgets gets back to corporate HQs, the prices of the raw materials already outstripped that profit in terms of making more widgets---production must fall, not rise. Yes, demand is up because nobody wants to hold their dollars anymore...but the choices quickly become either/ or. Either increase production slightly while decreasing staff significantly, or struggle to maintain production and decrease staff incrementally. In all cases, unemployment results...so, what then Mr. Killer...