US recalls old soldiers for duty

Here is another example of why the media doesn't know what it is talking about when it comes to military matters.

Also, notice the BBC bias here again. Instead of using the term "former" soldiers, the BBC opt to use "old soldiers" to give the impression the US is calling up pensioners. What a shameful organization the BBC has truly become.

From The BBC

As members of the IRR, the 5,600 former soldiers now being recalled have retired or otherwise left the military but still have a reserve obligation.

Unlike other reservists, however, they do not train or receive pay unless they are mobilised and probably did not expect ever to have to serve again, our correspondent says

Couple of points here which illustrate why the media are not qualified to speak on military matters.

First the BBC fail to mention that those IRR members who retired do recieve pay. Depending on the length of service they could be getting over 50% of their baisc pay when they retired.

Everyone in the IRR know full well that they may be called up. Some in the IRR were called up in the first gulf war in addition to this one.

Lastly, out of the nearly 6,000 IRR troops involved, over 2000 had already volunteered! Something the BBC does not want you to know.

The BBC then produce a retired Army colonel of their choice to add fuel to the fire.

Retired Army Col Andrew Bacevich, a Boston University international relations professor, said the recall suggested the army was too small for its current missions.

"These are people who used to be soldiers and no longer are," he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

"The informal contract... is that I have volunteered for a certain period of time and once that time is up, then the choice returns to me to decide either to continue my service or to opt out.

First of all, as a retired US service member I take offense at the statement that we are no longer soldiers. And if that were true, why would the military accept over 2000 of these experiences soldiers who volunteered?

There is nothing informal about your military contract and the choice to continue your military service does not return to you.

The BBC in its' own report say these IRR members "...but still have a reserve obligation". That is a contractual obligation.

So, why did the BBC choose Army Col Andrew Bacevich in the first place? Because he is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq. Bacevich recently wrote "Fighting a War in Name Only " in which he said:

Yet peeling back the rhetoric reveals a different story. By historical standards, the enterprise that some have described as another world war has turned out to be a niggling affair. Bush has asked nothing and required nothing of Americans. And nothing pretty much describes what we've anted up to support the cause.

Again, so much for the BBC's much vaunted "core values". The BBC continue in their anti-American agenda.

The BBC's charter should not be renewed.
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