L. McCarthy writes:
Sam Kaplin writes:
Todd Masco writes:
1: Somebody's roommate (a Green Beret) has been called back into 6 months of active service. He was not told where he'd be. Perhaps Bosnia?
I doubt it. [...]
Frankly, I'm quite puzzled by these signs. I can't think of any country that seems due for a quick invasion by the USG, but the increase in granularity of the GPS information suggests an operation of greater magnitude than just a strike against terrorists, drug cartels etc.
Military action also requires political will, and with the recent change in power in the US govt there is no way anything is going to happen for at least six months. Freshmen congressmen do not sign off on a war the first month they get into Washington unless the populace is frothing at the mouth to kill someone, and that isn't happening. Clinton does not have the political pull to get anything related to military action through Congress at this time, and he can't afford to challenge a legislature he no longer controls so any call to arms is probably not coming from the Executive branch. I also doubt he would be stupid enough to try a "Commander in Chief" action and hope that the Republicans would forget who scores the popularity points in such an activity and back him up, the legislature would crucify him with the electorate for trying move like this. OTOH, Green Berets are not the kind of troops used for "strike" actions. Thier primary specialty is low-intensity conflict and working with indigenous armies. Given the current geopolitical situation it seems that Bosnia is the only conflict that the US population cares about at all that would call for the use of Green Berets. Then again, maybe the military is just trying to increase its readiness in the hopes that a Republican legislature will let them use thier toys again... jim