Monday
May182009
Admiral Mullen: Our Future Is Guaranteed If We Take Care Of Our People
Monday, May 18, 2009 at 5:24PM
By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service
“Our future is guaranteed from a national standpoint If we take care of our people,” according to Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
This was one of the central points of Admiral Mullen’s talk on the “Future of Global Engagement” at the Brookings Institution today.
Afghani presidential elections coming up in August are forcing the U.S. military to draft a report on the effectiveness of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.
In addition, the law passed by Afghani President Hamid Karzai which prohibits a woman from refusing sexual intercourse with her husband may have signaled the need for yet more work and presence from the troops, implying the road is still long for the soldiers who are stationed there.
On his priorities, Mullen said, “The main effort right now is in Afghanistan. Increase the growth of the Army and the Marine Corps. But now those forces must be put together to rotate in the theater.”
Mullen added that because of the need for troops in different missions, “The numbers (of repeated deployments per soldier) we are getting right now are 3 and 4 but we’ve talked to families that are on their fifth and sixth deployment.”
“Even in our eighth year of war we’re in the beginning of getting at what I consider to be a debt that needs to be repaid for those sacrifices (by the troops), it’s for injuries seen but it’s also for injuries unseen,” said Mullen.
Mullen said that “what we should buy for their future is to make sure we get it right for our people, that’s health care, that’s housing, that's benefits, that's the compensation packages, that's the bonuses... that's where I spend an awful lot of my time with the services chief."
“Our future is guaranteed from a national standpoint If we take care of our people,” according to Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
This was one of the central points of Admiral Mullen’s talk on the “Future of Global Engagement” at the Brookings Institution today.
Afghani presidential elections coming up in August are forcing the U.S. military to draft a report on the effectiveness of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.
In addition, the law passed by Afghani President Hamid Karzai which prohibits a woman from refusing sexual intercourse with her husband may have signaled the need for yet more work and presence from the troops, implying the road is still long for the soldiers who are stationed there.
On his priorities, Mullen said, “The main effort right now is in Afghanistan. Increase the growth of the Army and the Marine Corps. But now those forces must be put together to rotate in the theater.”
Mullen added that because of the need for troops in different missions, “The numbers (of repeated deployments per soldier) we are getting right now are 3 and 4 but we’ve talked to families that are on their fifth and sixth deployment.”
“Even in our eighth year of war we’re in the beginning of getting at what I consider to be a debt that needs to be repaid for those sacrifices (by the troops), it’s for injuries seen but it’s also for injuries unseen,” said Mullen.
Mullen said that “what we should buy for their future is to make sure we get it right for our people, that’s health care, that’s housing, that's benefits, that's the compensation packages, that's the bonuses... that's where I spend an awful lot of my time with the services chief."
Poll: Iranians Desire Democracy and Reform
The majority of Iranians say they will vote to reelect incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to a nationwide poll conducted across Iran before the June 12, 2009 Iranian Presidential elections. The poll conducted by Terror Free Tomorrow also says that Iranians overwhelmingly continue to favor better relations with the United States and would like to directly elect their Supreme Leader in a free vote.
Iranians envision their country’s future as being more Democratic and having better trade relations, said Ken Ballen, President of Terror Free Tomorrow. Even if Ahmadinejad is re-elected it “doesn’t mean they don’t support these goals... If he is re-elected its not on his policies...its on a new mandate.”
According to the poll report: "Over the past two years, 77 percent of Iranians back
normal relations and trade with the United States. 68 percent also favor Iran
working with the United States to help resolve the Iraq war, while 60 percent
back unconditional negotiations with the U.S. For more than six in ten Iranians, the most important steps the U.S. could take that would improve opinions of America are: a free trade treaty between Iran and the U.S.; the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, and increasing visas for
Iranians to study and work in the United States."
The poll also says that 62 percent of Iranians oppose any peace treaty recognizing the State of Israel. The majority Iranians also support Muslims continuing "to fight until there is no State of Israel in the Middle East," the poll said.
And positive diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Iran may come at a price. "Iranians also continue to support the idea of Western investment and aid to Iran. Seventy percent favor Western investment; 80 percent medical, education and humanitarian assistance from Western countries," the poll report said. However, "60 percent of Iranians also support the government of Iran providing military and financial assistance to Iraqi Shiite militias (33 percent oppose), while 62
percent back such assistance to Hezbollah in Lebanon (31 percent oppose). Again, however, as part of a deal with the United States, 54 percent of Iranians would endorse the Iranian government ending support for Iraqi militias,"the report said.
This is Terror Free Tomorrow's third poll in a series over the past two years. It was conducted by telephone inside Iran over May 11 to May 20, 2009, with 1,001 interviews proportionally distributed and covering all 30 provinces of Iran, with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.