Army Desertion Rate Soaring

Number Of U.S. Army Deserters Up 80% Since Iraq War Started; Highest Rate Since 1980

(CBS/AP)  Soldiers strained by six years at war are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

While the totals are still far lower than they were during the Vietnam War, when the draft was in effect, they show a steady increase over the past four years - and a 42 percent jump since last year.

According to the Army, about nine in every 1,000 soldiers deserted in fiscal year 2007 (which ended Sept. 30), compared to nearly seven per 1,000 a year earlier. Overall, 4,698 soldiers deserted this year, compared to 3,301 last year.

Nearly 64 percent of the desertions last year were reported from April to December, reports CBS News correspondent Sam Litzinger, which would suggest the pace is picking up.

Sgt. Phil McDowell is one of those deserters. Now living in Canada, he had served one tour in Iraq and was getting out of the Army when Uncle Sam said "not so fast."

"The reason I was being called back was to go to another tour in Iraq, and I didn't agree with that," McDowell told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

McDowell could eventually be deported from Canada and court-martialed, but for him that beats going back to Iraq.

"If I had been asked to go to Afghanistan I would have gone there," he told Martin. "But the Iraq War I didn't want to have any part of that any more."

The rate of desertions seems to be accelerating in a pattern that tracks almost exactly with the extension of tours in Iraq from 12 months to 15 months.

Analysts say the Army has borne the brunt of the war in Iraq. Marine and Navy desertions actually declined last fiscal year.

Military leaders - including Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey - have acknowledged that the Army has been stretched nearly to the breaking point by the combat. And efforts are underway to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps to lessen the burden and give troops more time off between deployments.

Despite the continued increase in desertions, however, an Associated Press examination of Pentagon figures earlier this year showed that the military does little to find those who bolt, and rarely prosecutes the ones they get. Some are allowed to simply return to their units, while most are given less-than-honorable discharges.

The report on rising desertion rates comes a day after two U.S. Army deserters who fled to Canada and sought refugee status on grounds of their opposition to the Iraq war lost their bids to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear their cases.

The court refused Thursday to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, who were rejected by Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board in 2005. Hinzman and Hughey deserted the U.S. Army in 2004 after learning their units were to be deployed to Iraq to fight in a war they have called immoral and illegal.

Arrest Of Deserter Who Sought Treatment For PTSD

Earlier this week, a soldier who served two combat tours in Iraq was arrested for leaving the Army without permission more than a year ago. The arrest occurred just hours after Sgt. Brad Gaskins spoke at a news conference saying he left his base in New York State in August 2006 because the Army wasn't providing effective treatment after he was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and severe depression.

"They just don't have the resources to handle it, but that's not my fault," Gaskins said.

Last month, the Veterans Administration said more than 100,000 soldiers were being treated for mental health problems, and half of those specifically for PTSD.

Gaskins, 25, of East Orange, N.J., was taken into custody at a Watertown cafe ono Wednesday by civilian police officers from Fort Drum and two local police officers, Ensign said. The lawyer said he had been on the phone with military prosecutors working out the details of Gaskins' surrender when the soldier was arrested.

Fort Drum spokesman Ben Abel said after a soldier is AWOL for more than 30 days he becomes classified as a deserter and a federal arrest warrant is issued. He said he was unaware of the specifics of Gaskins' case and declined to comment on it.

An eight-year Army veteran, Gaskins served two tours in Iraq and a peacekeeping tour in Kosovo. He said his mental health began deteriorating during his second tour in Iraq, which began in June 2005, when his job was to conduct road searches and locate improvised explosive devices.

He said after returning to Fort Drum in February 2006, he began suffering flashbacks and nightmares, headaches, sleeplessness, weight loss and mood swings that took him from depression to irrational rages. Military doctors sent him to the Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, where he spent two weeks and was diagnosed with PTSD. When he later asked his commanders about returning to Samaritan, they told him it would delay any chance he had at obtaining a medical release, Gaskins said.

At the time, the Fort Drum mental health facility had a staff of a dozen caring for approximately 17,000 troops, Ensign said.

Gaskins said that because he had been unable to get proper help, he requested a two-week leave and went home to New Jersey, where he has been living since.

Gaskins said he hasn't been able to get a job because of his PTSD, and that he and his wife have separated. He said he has only supervised visitation rights with his two children.

[kissamaarse]

forthepeopl1: Well, Bush and Cheney were never military deserters, but they sure both avoided military service in Vietnam. Bush by hiding out in the Air National Guard, assigned to an aircraft that it was known would NEVER see combat in Vietnam, and Cheney got FOUR deferments from the draft board. So, while they are not deserters, they sure as heck are chicken-hawks.

[megaprophet]

HOPE FOR AMERICA: PRESIDENT RON PAUL

-- No more meddling in other country''s political affairs
-- No more aggressive military actions overseas
-- No more torture prisons
-- No more pseudo-wars like the "War on Drugs"
-- No more IRS and unconstitutional income taxes
-- No more Federal Reserve (the group of private banks which owns our government)
-- No more erosion of Social Security to pay for militarization
-- No more U.N. (one world government) participation
-- No more NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO or GATT
-- No more North American Union
-- No more federal gun control laws
-- No more illegal aliens pouring-in over our country''s borders
-- No more illegal aliens allowed to roam freely in our streets
-- No more national ID cards (Real ID Act)
-- No more government invasion of your privacy
-- No more federal Laws which are not authorized by The Constitution
-- No more federal erosion of State sovereignty
-- No more unlimited federal government

They don''t call him "Dr. No" for no reason. The Doctor is in! Join us in this 21st Century political revolution at ronpaul2008.com

"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men"
- Samual Adams

"Those who expect to reap the blessing of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine

"Ron Paul doesn''t represent your Father''s school of political thought. He represents your Founding Fathers."
- Me

[megaprophet]

WERE HAVING A TEA PARTY! YOU''RE INVITED
As we all know, freedom isn''t free in this country. Therefore, in the wake of our successful fundraising event of November 5th, in which we all came together to raise $4.2 million dollars for Ron Paul''s campaign, we''ve set yet another date for an even bigger fundraiser. This one will take place during on December 16th: a very important date for people who love freedom and hate tyranny to ring the Liberty Bell, and let our sold-out, globalist, political ****** and their mainstream media enablers know that good Americans are mad as hell, and that we''re not going to take it anymore. December 16th is the 224th aniversary of The Boston Tea Party: an act of protest by the American colonists against the tyranny of Great Britain where the Sons of Liberty boarded British ships and dumped crates of tea overboard into Boston Harbor. It was a key event which helped to spark the American Revolution, and we hope this event will, likewise, add additional spark to our own 21st Century political revolution to restore peace, prosperity and freedom to our Republic by helping elect a President whose record of adherance to The Constitution is unmatched by anyone in American politics. Please join us this December 16th for the largest one-day political donation event in history. Our goal is to bring together 100,000 people to donate $100 each, creating a one day donation total of $10,000,000. The time to act is now. The time for Ron Paul is NOW! TeaParty07.com

[tejasdemo]

I wish it were 100%. Everybody should desert. The war should not be funded at all. War on terror my ***. More like the war on reason.

[megaprophet]

RON PAUL FAVORS NON-INTERVENTIONIST FOREIGN POLICY
All of the other presidential candidates wants to continue our illegal police action in Iraq indefinitely, and they do not rule out a preemptive (nuclear) first strike against Iran. Conversely, Ron Paul voted against our (undeclared) war in Iraq, which was sold to us with lies. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies--the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. The war in Iraq has cost more than 3,500 American lives and almost a trillion dollars. We need a leader in the White House who will ensure this never happens again. Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have 750 foreign bases and troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft. We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing our borders against illegal aliens who are invading us from the South. No war should ever be fought without a Declaration of War voted upon by the Congress, as required by The Constitution. Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations. Too often, we give foreign aid and intervene on behalf of governments that are despised. Then, we become despised.

[megaprophet]

YOU''RE A FROG IN A POT
My fellow Americans need to open their eyes to the fact that our Republic, along with The Constitution upon which it was founded, is being flushed-down the toilet by our nations'' bought and paid for politicians and media. While the Oligarchs warn and incite fear in the sheeple about the prospect of terrorism, they at the same time leave our borders wide open, and then conduct illegal wars overseas that do nothing but incite the terrorism which their Orwellian Laws like the Patriot Act and the John Warner Defense Authorization Act pretend to protect us from. Wake up America! It''s not about protecting you from terrorism, or Global Warming, or any of that other fear-mongering garbage the sold-out, mainstream media feeds you 24/7. It''s about feeding the bankers and the military industrial complex, and facilitating the global elite''s ability to ratchet-down control over the American people, placing us into a total control grid where they can surveille, track and control everywhere we go and everything we do. It''s the groundwork for tyranny. It''s the New World Order plan of Bush, Clinton, Edwards, McCain, Giuliani, et.al., being executed quite beautifully. You''re a frog in a pot: In order to cook a frog, you don''t throw him into a pot of boiling water. If you do, he''ll resist and jump-out. What you do instead is, you turn the heat-up REAL SLOW, and by the time the water is boiling, he won''t be able to jump out anymore, because it''s too late--he''s already doomed.

[averjane]

irishbitch11

Don''t worry, it will get better when the communists take over.

[mbcsmith]

HEY BONER, JUST TO LET IN ON A STATE SECRIT- IT WAS YOUR ****** LEADERS AND YOURSELVE THAT PUT THE MIDDLE EAST THE WAY IT IS. YOU A-HOLES. SO YOU GO OVER AND FIX IT...WHAT CHICKEN LIKE YOUR LEADERS...

BUSH/CHANEY ARE DESERTER


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by forthepeopl1 at 02:08 PM : Nov 16, 2007

This is precisely what moveon and dailykos have produced. Vileness and hatred. Yes, LIB. The middle east was daisies and bambies and rainbows and candy for all. Just like Disneyland before we got there.

[myidoncbs]

They volunteered to "defend our nation". Instead, Bush sent them off to fight his private war for oil. And he keeps sending them back, again and again and again, past the point of exhaustion. It''s a wonder that they don''t ALL desert.

PS. Spammer MegaProphet: get lost. You have NOTHING to contribute. You just spam, and spam, and spam again. If your goal is to get everyone to HATE RP, congratulations, you''ve succeeded. So quit, already!

[tbweb]

I wanna go home! Bubba to Forest Gump!

[bwessels]

"Nearly 64 percent of the desertions last year were reported from April to December, reports CBS News correspondent Sam Litzinger, which would suggest the pace is picking up."

Hmmmm... Nearly 64% of desertions were during 75% of the calendar year. For those of you bad at math, it does NOT suggest the pace is picking up.

Not that I doubt they are up. I just don''t like stupidity in print.

[marcodele]

While nine out of a thousand doesn''t seem like a big spike in desertions to me, it is ironic that the two draft dodgers who sent them there get to read these numbers.

[armywife02-2009]

I completely understand why these men and women are throwing in the towel-- The army has orders to be away for 12-18 months that is why people are goinw AWOL-- How about the government and the pentagon shortening the length of deployments and rotating 6 month rotations it will take the strain off of these soldiers I bet any amount of money that will decrease the % of desertion-- Everyone just says pull out pull out well we aren''t going anywhere obviously but this is something realistic that can happen- I know how these men and women feel I live the life style my husband is on his 3rd tour in Iraq for 12-18 months these men and women are burnt out and yet they still have 9 more months to go and know they will be back to do another tour that is why I started a petition to stop these long deployments of 12-18 months so they could do 6 month rotations it would make it easier--

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-extended-deployments

you can''t knock them for giving up they have been asked 3 times to leave their loved ones for 12-18 months while other branches are deployed 10 months-- This is something the paper pushers should take in to thought.

[mudrose-2009]

Of course they''re deserting. What else would CBS news tell ya. In droves. Why they even sent home a Brigade.

[Krazcarl]

Like anyones idea of a good time is being in a country your hated they plant bombs in the road and wait on ya sell you out for a 5 cents and guys run around with bombs strapped to their chest waiting to go bang and get to heaven is that anyones idea of a good time?

[whatithink-2009]

crzmeat,

If this was another country invading the U.S., I bet you''d be making life difficult on them too.

[frankly6]

Let''s see...they have the choice to risk life and limb in a war that is based on a pack of Republican lies and hope against all evidence that if they come back injured, they will get decent medical care. Or they and head North to Canada. I''d head North until the madness that has gripped our nation has once again passed. Our military is being misused and abused by the current administration. It''s meant to defend us against attacks not to invade countries and steal their resources.

[rseneff1]

i agree with the staement that this a voluntary army and if you dont want to go to war then you shouldn''t be joining the armed services. Most of these people that joined tought they were going to get a free college grant and not have to fight well now they know and they should stick it out or get the hell out of the armed forces

[book54552134]

With constant & consistent re-deployments to Iraq, is this end result a surprise to anyone?

Well, the Bush Administration can simply call up an additional brigade of National Guard to replace the deserters.

[donbl1]

This story is a non-starter.

Desertion is less than 1%. Actually, it is .9% having risen from .7%; i.e., it rose .2%.

This "walk away" number is lower than many businesses.

Playing with statistics to make a story.

This is much less than I experienced during or after the Vietnam War.

Shame on CBS for another attempt at hidden agenda.

[lambofgoth]

tuckerndfw: Because another Republican (Reagan) was voted into office...

[shingles1]

I would like to see a real comparison w/the rates in Vietnam, instead of this silly "rate of increase". After all, if you go from 1 deserters to 2 deserters the next year, wouldn''t that bee a 100% increase?

[seven_pesos]

mafia organized crime leaders are jealous of those mega millionaire televangelist...

organized crime wants to get into the organized religion business.

mafia sees there''s more money to be had in organized religion than organized crime.

and it''s tax free!

ha,ha,ha.

"hallelujah!...send in your donation so i can make the payment on my mercedes benz."

[libsluvsuvs]

Better to die honorably in a prison cell than as a slave or member of the equivalent of a street gang running around the world murdering people and stealing their property.

Bush & Cheney should be in prison cells. But, they have no honor. Neither do their supporters.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by tuckerndfw at 03:58 PM : Nov 16, 2007
+ report abuse


*************

oh trust me mr. tuckerMF..the whole country already knows NOT TO EXPECT ANYTHING FROM YOU OTHER THAN THE USUAL PAIN IN THE ARSE.

what you need is some first hand motivation to understand the whole meaning of this..

how about an ied somewhere between home and work? say it wont happen..same thing some liberal said about 747''s ramming the wtc and taking both down..

never say never..and your never is coming

[megaprophet]

TO APATHETIC AMERICANS
Voter disenfranchisement and apathy infects the heart of our Republic. Get off your couch, put your remote control down, and become active in your nation''s political process. The pathetically few people that do vote in this country, a.k.a., "the ruling class", who currently get to decide under what kind of conditions (and Laws) you and your family will live, are certainly involved. I can assure you of that. In fact, the ruling class would be much happier if you would just continue to stay home and watch TV in your pleasantly distracted and brainwashed, stupor. That way they can continue to elect their political ****** to office, and continue to maintain their grip on 100% of the political power they currently own in this country. If you voted (God Forbid), it would cancel-out their vote, and they would lose control. They can''t have that. Now can they? If you don''t vote, my friends, you''re nothing but an unwashed "Pleb" to those that do, and the ruling class should rightfully consider themselves superior to you in every way. They do, after all, have all the power, while you have none. If you''re too apathetic and powerless to do anything for yourself more time-consuming than driving down to Mickey D''s to buy a milk shake in order to sieze control of your life, and your country''s destiny, then perhaps you deserve to be ruled over like the "Pleb" that you then are. The time to act is now. The time for political revolution has come. The time for Ron Paul is NOW!

[logicanada]

Hmmmmm, leeet''s see.... Sign for one hitch and get recalled for up to four hitches, Fight under the command of a pseudo king who used his daddy''s name to avoid active duty, and who vetoes any bill that would assist the war effort, Fight under puppet generals who have succumbed to a blatantly obvious political/religious agenda. Witness the decline of you global reputation under proven accusations of torture, war crimes and illegal detention, Have the military, under Bush''s orders, end your hitch one day shy of your commitment so as to claim you are not entitled to veterans benefits, while contract killers with immunity to the laws by which you are bound, earn three times your pay with full benefits, Watch other countries who have joined the coalition of the willing(snicker)begin troop withdrawals, Have fat a**ed fools like Rush Limbaugh, or imbeciles like Bill O''Reilly bad-mouth you at every opportunity. Return to no job, no prospects (because your ''king'' has run the country into the ground,) and sleepless nights or a life with metal limbs,
Watch the chimp smile at all the photo ops.,
Etc., etc., etc.......Should you stick around because you signed on the dotted line?
Serving your country and patriotism can only go so far. Desertion is such a foul name to describe the actions of the brave men and women who have simply had enough. Maybe they consider themselves dead inside. You should never speak ill of the dead.I prefer to call these people ''ENLIGHTENED''

What say you?

[ov442]

"same thing some liberal said about 747''''s ramming the wtc and taking both down..
Posted by Libsluvsuvs"

I''m sure when the Repugnants all said that, they were riding your bandwagon Libs.
Especially when Rudy decided to put the Disaster Command post in the basement of the WTC (even after it was previously targeted)
--**"us repubs is smaht peepils"**--

[barbaraf4]

Cool! These are the un-volunteers!!

[grammawhamma]

Two deployements should be the maximum allowed.

[megaprophet]

HOPE FOR AMERICA: PRESIDENT RON PAUL

-- No more meddling in other country''s political affairs
-- No more aggressive military actions overseas
-- No more torture prisons
-- No more pseudo-wars like the "War on Drugs"
-- No more IRS and unconstitutional income taxes
-- No more Federal Reserve (the group of private banks which owns our government)
-- No more erosion of Social Security to pay for militarization
-- No more U.N. (one world government) participation
-- No more NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO or GATT
-- No more North American Union
-- No more federal gun control laws
-- No more illegal aliens pouring-in over our country''s borders
-- No more illegal aliens allowed to roam freely in our streets
-- No more national ID cards (Real ID Act)
-- No more government invasion of your privacy
-- No more federal Laws which are not authorized by The Constitution
-- No more federal erosion of State sovereignty
-- No more unlimited federal government

They don''t call him "Dr. No" for no reason. The Doctor is in! Join us in this 21st Century political revolution at ronpaul2008.com

"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men"
- Samual Adams

"Those who expect to reap the blessing of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine

"Ron Paul doesn''t represent your Father''s school of political thought. He represents your Founding Fathers."
- Me

[megaprophet]

WERE HAVING A TEA PARTY! YOU''RE INVITED
As we all know, freedom isn''t free in this country. Therefore, in the wake of our successful fundraising event of November 5th, in which we all came together to raise $4.2 million dollars for Ron Paul''s campaign, we''ve set yet another date for an even bigger fundraiser. This one will take place during on December 16th: a very important date for people who love freedom and hate tyranny to ring the Liberty Bell, and let our sold-out, globalist, political ****** and their mainstream media enablers know that good Americans are mad as hell, and that we''re not going to take it anymore. December 16th is the 224th aniversary of The Boston Tea Party: an act of protest by the American colonists against the tyranny of Great Britain where the Sons of Liberty boarded British ships and dumped crates of tea overboard into Boston Harbor. It was a key event which helped to spark the American Revolution, and we hope this event will, likewise, add additional spark to our own 21st Century political revolution to restore peace, prosperity and freedom to our Republic by helping elect a President whose record of adherance to The Constitution is unmatched by anyone in American politics. Please join us this December 16th for the largest one-day political donation event in history. Our goal is to bring together 100,000 people to donate $100 each, creating a one day donation total of $10,000,000. The time to act is now. The time for Ron Paul is NOW! TeaParty07.com

[ov442]

apparently logicanada has been paying attention

[prinzowhales]

Desertion from the Washington Regime''s forces is more than justified. These wars of aggression violate the Nuremberg Principles...the stop-loss orders amount to indentured servitude and, the leadership of the Washington Regime, in supporting the torture of detainees and civilians, has made itself a criminal regime that deserves the support of no man.

Good Americans will desert or refuse to serve in a military that is fighting and bleeding for oil, Israel and opium. Good Americans will support those who refuse to serve the criminal in chief and his henchmen. Troops Home Now! The enemy of the Constitution and the Republic is in Washington!

[ov442]

Ron Paul is the republican version of the ACLU.
He serves a good purpose for the most part, but goes way too far too often to gain support from the masses.
If he moderated a little bit, he''d play a more significant part in the election. If he and Kucinich combined forces and campaigns, we''d have one whacked out independant ticket.

[pepperp1]

OH god yes don%u2019t give our soldiers a raise during war or fund children%u2019s health care for the sickest among us that might require less money for Blackwater, Or cut the Bush earmarks requested in these budgets 580 PORK BUSH EARMARKS worth $15.6 billion for things like $24 million for the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. Or the $8.9 million for the Points of Light foundation, a pet project started by his father, former President George H.W. Bush.


Sure Laura, I want to spend my hard earned tax dollars on your PORK librarian program god forbid that money go to cover health care for chronically ill children, a increase in wage for our soldiers and their family serving 3 plus tours in Iraq for minimum wage which would be my choices. The arrogance and entitlement of these Bushs living large of we tax payers is beyond disgusting.


Probably wrong here about these soldier, Bush was so unremarkable when he served no one remembers him showing up either maybe these guys records are just lost too.

[terrapin78]

Ron Paul- No safe, legal abortion.

[bareemperor]

Cheney''s use of Halliburton and Blackwater has done more to erode the troop morale than anything ''Libs and Democrats'' could ever do!
What a bunch of greedy morons these NeoCons are.

[poopusbuttus]

I POOP ON ALL LIBERALS FACES!!!!!

[bareemperor]

Our military knows deep down what Bu$hCo is doing in Iraq. In a war started by a liar, and continued by greedy defense industry executives, there are no winners.
- - - -

Congress may have finally got to the bottom of the 9/11-CIA/United Airlines insider trading...

Seems a Bu$h buddy/CIA employee/Halliburton employee family named Kronger is under suspicion for netting $22 million for their part in placing ''put options'' on some airlines stock, possibly knowing which planes would be flown into the WTC buildings...

Could it be that some in the CIA and the Pentagon actually pulled off 9/11?

Why was Cheney in command of NORAD that day?
What exactly did Bu$h know about the atrocity?
Will personal greed be the undoing of the cabal?

[logicanada]

I see ''libs'' is here for another a** kicking.

[poopusbuttus]

FLOYDZEPP -- Even though I cant find my A$$ with both hands, if I have a good night of drinking several beers, all I have to do is aim and squirt. See what I mean?

Oh, I forgot one crucial thing. I have to plant myself in a socialist liberal gathering to do that. Much like on here....

[megaprophet]

RON PAUL WILL RESTORE U.S. SOVEREIGNTY
All of the trade deals and world government organizations, which all of the presidential candidates support (except Ron Paul), such as the ICC, NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA, are all a major threat to our nation''s sovereignty. They transfer power from our government to unelected foreign elites. The ICC wants to try our soldiers as war criminals. Both the WTO and CAFTA could force Americans to get a prescription to take herbs and vitamins. The WTO has forced Congress to change our laws to meet their needs, and not our own. If anything, the WTO makes trade relations worse by giving foreign competitors a new way to attack U.S. jobs. The NAFTA superhighway, being built by a Spanish company, is just one part of a plan to erase our borders and create the North American Union, a single nation State like the EU, out of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, with a new, unelected bureaucracy and money system. Forget about controlling immigration under the NAU scheme. There won''t be any borders anymore, or a free America. Our limited, constitutional government will be gone forever. Let''s not forget the UN either. It wants to impose a direct Carbon Tax on us. Ron Paul successfully fought this move in Congress last year, but if we are going to stop ongoing attempts of this world government body to rule over us, we need someone in the White House who knows how to say "No." We must withdraw from any organizations or treaty that infringes upon our nation''s sovereignty.

[megaprophet]

HOPE FOR AMERICA: PRESIDENT RON PAUL

-- No more meddling in other country''s political affairs
-- No more aggressive military actions overseas
-- No more torture prisons
-- No more pseudo-wars like the "War on Drugs"
-- No more IRS and unconstitutional income taxes
-- No more Federal Reserve (the group of private banks which owns our government)
-- No more erosion of Social Security to pay for militarization
-- No more U.N. (one world government) participation
-- No more NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO or GATT
-- No more North American Union
-- No more federal gun control laws
-- No more illegal aliens pouring-in over our country''s borders
-- No more illegal aliens allowed to roam freely in our streets
-- No more national ID cards (Real ID Act)
-- No more government invasion of your privacy
-- No more federal Laws which are not authorized by The Constitution
-- No more federal erosion of State sovereignty
-- No more unlimited federal government

They don''t call him "Dr. No" for no reason. The Doctor is in! Join us in this 21st Century political revolution at ronpaul2008.com

"Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the ability to handle conflict through peaceful means."
- Ronald Reagan

"Wars are poor chisels for carving-out peaceful tomorrows."
- Martin Luther King Jr.

"Ron Paul doesn''t represent your Father''s school of political thought. He represents your Founding Fathers."
- Me

[megaprophet]

RON PAUL%u2019S FOREIGN POLICY BOOK BECOMES BESTSELLER
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul%u2019s new book, "A Foreign Policy of Freedom: Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship," broke into the best-seller%u2019s list. On November 2, Congressman Paul%u2019s collection of speeches on foreign policy from his 10-term career in the House of Representatives hovered at number 93 on the amazon.com top 100-selling books list, and continued to maintain its number one spot in the non-fiction government and economic policy genres. The book is a 30-year compilation of the Texas congressman and rising GOP presidential contender%u2019s speeches from the congressional floor, and assorted foreign policy writings on constitutional republicanism and non-interventionism. "Dr. Paul%u2019s message of freedom, prosperity and peace is a best-seller," said Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton. "The numbers don%u2019t lie. Americans want a constitutional, humble foreign policy, which only Ron Paul can deliver in 2008."

[notblue]

Flodzepp, tell the families who lost loved ones on 911 that the threreay is overblown and the bad guys capabilities are limited. If Iran gets nukes and hands them over to the radicals there potential for mayhem and death will be unlimited. Your level of denail is in direct proportion with your ignorance to the threat of radical Islam

[donbl1]

Tucker, you get some free booze under the bridge? Not all of anything are bad - there are granularities among all the parties. Some good from each party but not necessarily who we will get to vote for.

yes, Bush had been president for slightly less than 9 months and just finished the tax cut legislation when 9/11 happened. His CIA (and FBI, I think) head came from Clinton.

Bush never intended to reach for the Grand Strategy. As you know from living in Texas, he is just not that kind of guy. He does not think of himself as a grand strategist. And, rightly so.

I honestly think his presidential goals were domestic as he had never discussed ANY international goals.

[arthurcl1]

This is exactly why the "fired" Generals on the ground objected to putting more troops in Harms Way and why they are dubious about "partnering" with the IRAQI troops - This was probably an inside job!
The Military Brass want to hide these events to try and distort the realities of this Civil War in IRAQ. US TROOPS are viewed as "occupiers" no longer liberators... and thus, just as much a problem as the insurgents to the ultimate stability of their country!
These are IRAQI citizens people and whether you want to label them "yankess" or "rebs" neither of them are Americans and it is their destiny to decide the fate of their country!
You read the reports about IRANIANS traing Shia Militia and in IRAN and the other 100 Muslim Nations you read about the US Training Shia Security Forces - PLEASE TELL ME THE DIFFERENCE!!!
This is the type of deceit that Bush has been shielding from America for over four years in order to keep US Support behind Keeping our Soldiers in HARMS WAY - with Cheerleaders like Cheney saying on CNN - that we are making enormous progress in IRAQ - STATE of DENIAL!

How Tragically SAD!

[megaprophet]

WHO''S RON PAUL?
Ron Paul''s campaign has become a clearinghouse for voters like me who feel unrepresented by the Fascisct (globalist Republicans) and their Socialist comrades in crime (globalist Democrats). They''re actually one and the same. It''s all a phony, poorly staged left-right paradigm. Most people, though, are too distracted, dumbed-down, or outright brainwashed by mainstream media, which endlessly regurgitates scientifically-crafted streams of information aimed at keeping their eyes closed to the realities of the world around them, that they fail to recognize this. Those currently in power, and those being groomed to take [major] political power, are preselected by a "global elite," and whomever is eventually elected, will ultimately, serve their agenda, and not ours. People on the right and those on the left have many differences, maybe irreconcilable ones. But we have a lot of common beliefs too, and our numbers and anger are of a considerable magnitude. No matter what happens in 2008, I personally believe Ron Paul will influence the national conversation about how much power our government should have over our lives; how much liberty we should give up for security; and whether we should continue moving along our current path towards one world government. These are issues that, frankly, no one else is talking about as seriously and sincerely as Ron Paul. What''s for sure is that his growing army of supporters like me will be a force to be reckoned with in 2008.

[prinzowhales]

donbl1--And, it just so happened that within two weeks of taking office Bush was asking his national security people to find him a reason to go after Iraq?

He wasn''t backed by the Neo-Cons, Big Oil and internationalist interests because he was going to concern himself with domestic issues. Do you think he would have gotten the support of the Israel-first/America-last gang with people like Wolfowitz, Murdoch and their ilk because he was going to bugger around with domestic concerns??!!

[megaprophet]

RON PAUL IS THE NEW WAY
What we need is a President who will show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW way. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Presidential candidate, Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics and one to foreign policy. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he treated as an Air Force Flight Surgeon (Captain) during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I''ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherence to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.