Famous Southern Senators: Mitch McConnell (R) Kentucky

Grayson County News-Gazette
I won't tell you everything is great in Iraq; it is not. But we want to keep a steady flow of funds so that we don't disrupt the military,” said McConnell. “Unfortunately, most of our friends on the other isle are having a hard time admitting things are getting better; some days I almost think the critics of this war don't want us to win. Nobody is happy about losing lives but remember these are not draftees, these are full-time professional soldiers.

“We ought to provide funding fully without restrictions and without Congress micromanaging the war, ” added Mcconnell. More ...

[T]he Pentagon's policy on the Guard or Reserve was that members' cumulative time on active duty for the Iraq or Afghan wars could not exceed 24 months. That cumulative limit is now lifted; the remaining limit is on the length of any single mobilization, which may not exceed 24 consecutive months.... a citizen-soldier could be mobilized for a 24-month stretch in Iraq or Afghanistan, then demobilized and allowed to return to civilian life, only to be mobilized a second time for as much as an additional 24 months. (CBS/AP)

Senator McConnell's ignorance about the make-up of our all-volunteer military shows how little most Americans know, or care to know, about a war in which they have no obligation to participate. While it may surprise Senator McConnell to know that almost 25% of the US combat fatalities in Iraq consist of National Guard and Reserve troops, it's a tragic fact for the families of these citizen-soldiers. Using that 25% for Guard and Reserve fatalities, McConnell's home state of Kentucky has lost 16 citizen-soldiers out of a total of 63. Closer to home, Michigan has lost about 39 citizen-soldiers out of a total of 156 military deaths (both Iraq and Afghanistan). It never ceases to amaze me how Senator McConnell and his fellow hawks, most of whom avoided military service, are always the first to call for the use of military force.

"[War] is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes." General Smedley Butler, USMC