freeSpeech: Bob Schieffer

CBS News' Chief Washington Correspondent Speaks Out About Enlistment And Broken Promises

(CBS)  When Americans go into the military, they take an oath to go wherever the military sends them and to obey all lawful orders.

If they don’t, they risk prison. In the military you don’t pick and choose which orders to obey and which promises to keep.

But what can those who serve their country do, when government breaks its promises to them?

Not much apparently. But that’s what happened this week when 4,000 of our soldiers were told they would have to stay in Iraq longer than the government had promised.

It has happened over and over. Combat tours have been extended, soldiers have been kept on active duty longer than their term of enlistment, reserves who thought they had completed their combat obligations have been called back.

Soldiers told they would get two years at home between combat assignments are going to Iraq every other year — some for the third time.

The Pentagon claims it has every legal right to do this and it may well be legal. But it is not right break our promises to the very people who are bearing the brunt of this war.

Our army is just too small to carry out the mission it has been assigned. We need to fix that or change the mission and find a way out of this war.

With an all volunteer force we have no choice. If Americans come to believe the Pentagon can’t be trusted to keep its promises to those who join, no one will volunteer.

Then where will we be?

---

Bob Schieffer is broadcast journalism's most experienced Washington reporter. He is CBS News' Chief Washington Correspondent and also serves as anchor and moderator of Face The Nation, CBS News' Sunday public affairs broadcast.

Schieffer served as interim anchor of The CBS Evening News from March 10, 2005 until Aug. 31, 2006. He will be a regular contributor to The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

[oldsoaking1]

Amen, Bob Schieffer! You are dead-on. I was AD myself for 6 years; my spouse is still and will be retiring in the Spring. We watched the redeployment fake-out happen 2.5 years ago when families in our neighborhood at Fort Polk were so close to moms & dads coming home that the welcome home banners had been made and hung. Those directly affected were absolutely devastated...in the deepest sense of the word. I firmly believe in service before self and giving something back to your country, but as you so eloquently pointed out, the relationship between Soldier and Uncle Sam has been rather one-way in the past couple/few years. Thank you for laying it out so clearly for the nation. Indeed, if this continues, no one with any sense or family responsibilities will view the military as a viable career.

[brushfinch]

Thank you, Bob Schieffer, for your piece on "broken promises". Our soldiers deserve better. Our president commented that this war is a comma... the most insensitive and callous comment.. when we think of the sacrifices our troops have made...this comma has messed up the lives of thousands Americans as well as Iraqis.This is an administration of broken promises to all Americans in regard to the war, to education, to hurricane relief, to medicare, to energy, etc. Again thank you for your thoughtful words.

[mwe3wm]

I want to thank CBS for this forum.

I agree with Mr. Schieffer. What concerns me is that this has been his third time on this segment. I thought that this was to be an opportunity for the average Joe to voice opinions. With three appearances, Mr. Schieffer seems to providing editorial comments for CBS which to me is outside the scope of the orignal concept for Free Speach.

As always I support Mr. Schieffer for his views on the world around us. I respect CBS and make them my first choice for News because they do support the open forum I am using now. However I would ask that CBS continue to provide more diverse speakers access to the FREE SPEACH segment and limit professional news casters.

[w7co]

I was ashamed to hear the comments about broken promises. What broken promises. I served in the US Navy for nearly 30 years in both war and peace. Never once did my government ever break a promise to me.

Did I ever have to go some where I would have rather not, yes. Did I ever have to work extra hours I didn't want to, yes. Did I ever see things I didn't want to see, yes. So what, I knew when I signed up that I might have to go where I didn't want to go or when I didn't want to go. But I signed the contract and was happy to do so. By the way my wife and four children served right along with yours truly. I never heard you complain in the past when cruises or deployments were extended. Where were you then?

Why don't you say something positive. Get behind our men and women instead of playing politics with their feelings. We have enough politicians, be a reporter instead

[jfkwinona]

I laud Bob Schieffer and CBS for stating so eloquently what is on the minds and hearts of so many Americans. It takes courage to boldly hold a sitting administration accountable for its questionable policies, in plain and unveiled language, as forcefully as is warranted. I really was reinforced by this commentary. Thank you.

[mh4cbs1]

RIGHT ON,
Thanks Mr. Shieffer for telling it like it is. The Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney gang are abusing our troops. They use our troops like cannon fodder for their needless War in Iraq, which they LIED us into, which has cost $300 BILION, tens of thousands of lives, and which even the recent NIE report admits that we are LESS SAFE as a result.
Who is being asked to sacrifice for this War? Not the multi-millionaires, who been handed massive Bush tax cuts while the deficit skyrockets and middleclass Americans are working harder for less and less. Haliburton sockholders have not sacrified. Oil Companies with tens of Billions in quarterly profits are not struggling with this War. No, it is the poor and middleclass kids that suffer and die while the very wealthy do just fine
(it is no coincidence that to help military recruitment, tuition has increased dramtically while student loans have been cut).
Lets start a random draft of the sons and daughters of the politicians and the very wealthy - and this war would be over in a few weeks (and never would have been waged in the first place).

[spredbury]

This is so shameful. Our government has lied to the best of the best. I am a 20 year military retiree and a Viet Nam vet and I know what it is like to be lied to. I am so ashamed of how our politicians have treated our men and women in uniform just to further the cause of George Bush's Iraq war; George Bush's desire to GET SADAM HUSSEIN....*** THE COST. Why have almost 3,000 died and over 20,000 been wounded? Some wounded so severly that they will never be able to live anything close to a normal life? Why? Bush, Chaney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and all the Senators and Congressmen who allowed this to happen should all be prosecuted along with Hussein for war crimes. They are criminals in any sense of the word. MY GREATFUL THANKS TO OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM FOR PERFORMING THEIR DUTIES AS ORDERED. THEIR ORDERS ARE WRONG BUT THESE MEN AND WOMEN ARE THE BEST.

[lupokitty]

Thank you Bob for speaking up for our brave young and women ane what they are being put through now. It boggles the mind to think that our so called 'volunteers' are being forced again and again to fight a battle that most Americans feel shouldn' even have started. Imagine the sacrifice we are asking our warriors to make for family and self. Being deployed time and time again, extending tours weeks or months at a time? Never being able to settle in to a life outside of risking life and limb? I wonder if the so called "policy makers' would be so eager to 'stay the course' if they had to leave their plush offices and endure the hardships we are asking America's finest to do?

[lwadle2]

As a Soldier I appreciate all the concern shown for the members of the armed forces of this great country. But what you fail to realize is that although we hate being away from our families and friends we understand that we must do what are duty calls us to do. If we go for a year and then they tell us we are stay 2 extra months we hate it but it isn%u2019t like it is a broken promise. Mr Schaffer was using his pulpit to further damage the morale of this country. He used statements like, %u201CNot much apparently. But that%u2019s what happened this week when 4,000 of our soldiers were told they would have to stay in Iraq longer than the government had promised.%u201D No one knows that the mission comes first better then a Soldier. I have deployed on two occasions and never felt like the Army owed me a set in stone date for return. Not to mention that Soldiers who have deployed to Iraq will be the first ones to tell you that we need to stay the course and that we are doing great things in that country that the media fails to tell Americans.
Yes it is a volunteer Army and that is the best way to have it but stories like this only serve to reduce the number of young men and woman who wish to serve. If he and other like him get their way and continue this active they will soon force us to re-instate the draft to provide for the protection of the great country.

[nancycr1]

(I stroke 10/22/02)
Amen Bob Schieffe!!!
mh4cbs1 & me
me freeSpeech

[goseepats]

The draft was bad but this is worse. For years I've been saying the same as mh4cbs regarding our politicians' and most of their children's involvement in the military and/or fighting foreign wars.
My son was a 27 year old college grad with a good job when he applied to (and was accepted) to Marine Officer Candidate School on September 12, 2001 and served his country for 4 years with 2 tours to Iraq. Why should he be told, now that he is a civilian, that he has to go back because he is trained and our politicians have so screwed up the handling of this war that others don't want to take the chance of going so just don't join the military? We know Cheney has an out with the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on *** with regard to his daughter, but what about Bush's daughters and the rest of the cabinet and congressmen who want this war? How is it they can't make it look good enough for their own kids to fight but want to send my son again ?

[egon92]

My 5 years of active duty ended in May 2005, and now being out for a year and a half, I have been activated for a year and a half of active duty. Mr. Schieffer, you are dead-on correct, sir! I feel as though my debt to the Army has been paid and I did my tour in Iraq and fought the 'good fight.' My reasons for leaving the Army were both personal and professional, and now as a continuing federal employee with a civilian agency having no continuing affiliation with the Army, I find this to be a slap in the face. My family has been faithful to my decisions and my choice of career path. Rumsfeld and the rest of the Pentagon are undertaking a huge "backdoor draft" and then passing it off by saying, as you did, that it is legal. Legal it is, right it is not. Lwadle2, you may have done 2 tours, but you have not been uprooted from your job and your family after you felt your debt was paid to the armed service. Like the saying goes, "Failure to plan on your part does not cause an emergency for me." The administration failed miserably to plan for this operation, and quite frankly, does not mean it is an emergency for me. I will serve proudly when I report in a few weeks, because I have an obligation to my fellow soldiers, and to the Constitution, but absolutely no love nor respect for Bush, Rumsfeld, and the rest of this deceitful, rabble-rousing group we incorrectly refer to as 'leaders.'

[selfportrait-2009]

I just listened to your ranting about the extended tours of duty our soldiers have had to endure in Iraq and couldn't believe my ears. Have you forgotten our history? What about the treatment of our soldiers at Valley Forge? the War of 1812? the Mexican-American War? Our soldiers during the Civil War? the Spanish-American War? World War I? World War II? Korea? Vietnam? Every war we've had we have had to extend tours of duty! It's the nature of war and how we in a democracy choose to fight it. We always promise early victory and a quick return home. That's what generals do. It's not a lie. It's a TRADITION!

I'm sorry you feel we've lost the war in Iraq. It's your right to feel that way and to give your opinion about it. But Bob, please stop trying to be another Cronkite. Our country is well pass listening to a journalist who thinks he speaks for the nation. Take a moment and analyze the debate in this country. Both sides are FULLY engaged. There isn't a silent majority waiting to hear someone's idea of the truth.

The fact is we are in for a very long war against terrorism and in Iraq. It's a war that has to be fought. Diplomacy is not going to work. Listen to CBS's own reports about the Pope last week. The two sides are not even speaking the same language. You lived during the Cold War. You saw how long it took to develop a dialogue. Detente was decades in the making.

[cscott1977]

I never watch CBS, but I happened to be flipping through the channels when your "Free Speech" segment came on. I was very intrigued with the topic. I am married to a staff sargent with the US Army. He happens to be based out of Fort Lewis, WA and is currently serving in Iraq. I have to say that I whole heartedly argree with Bob Sheiffer's commentary. We do ask the soliders to make a commitment and to not go back on it without dire consequences. There are unforseen circumstances that come up, but the government should keep that in mind and not make promises that it cannot keep. I agree, our military is spread too thin with all of the conflicts our country is committed to. There needs to be some middle ground reached because there is no way we can keep this up unless a mandatory draft is put into effect, and no one wants that. Unfortunately we are committed to Iraq and Afganistan and as much as I want my husband home with me as soon as possible, it is just not feasible to pull our forces out at the drop of a hat. My husband has a job to do and he is extremely proud to be there and to be serving his country, at the same time missing home and me and wishing he was stateside every single day. As much as I hate having my husband away and in danger, I support my husband 100%. Every solider knows when they deploy that their return date is in the air. It comes with the job. But thank you Mr. Shieffer for calling out the Bush administration.

[marina251-2009]

Mr. Schieffer, I applaud you for your comments regarding enlistment and broken promises...bring them home!!!

[gypo_logger]

What does a 70 year old logger do?
Answ: Listen to CBS & Bob Sheiffer%u2019s FreeSpeach also reading online about people trying to make a difference.
I was drafted can relate.
Sadly too often money determines who gets what with the powerful. We see & hear many young people on TV with replacement limbs bravely saying, look what I can do.
Equally disturbing are the military men being overlooked @ (hsgint.com/) begging to protect our troops from IED%u2019s, snipers & more just look what they offer.
I'm not related too!