Why does the military always seem to be on the favor of the Republicans?

Question

When all the Republicans ever do is cut their benefits, send them into war poorly equiped and make them fight without any clear strategy on how to fight, how to achieve victory and when they can leave? Are military supporters of the republicans lemmings or what?

Answer 1

When I joined the Army in 1979, Carter was President. When my unit's vehicles needed servicing, we had to cannibalize parts from other vehicles to make some run. There wasn't enough of a budget for parts.

When my unit went to the field for training, there wasn't enough blank ammunition to use for training, so we had to act like kids playing "Army," saying "Bang!"

When Reagan was elected, within the year, I had received an 11% pay raise. We had training and equipment budgets that were realistic, and he made us proud again to be serving. He was instrumental in toppling Communism by confronting it, rather than appeasing it.

I left when Clinton took over, because they had begun to draw down the military, looking for a "peace dividend." The Demoncrats were completely behind this. I left, having seen the writing on the wall. I was not about to try and compete for the fewer slots that would be available in a downsized Army.

Answer 2

The military doesn't love either electoral party to exclusion. Two Presidents popular with the military, FDR and JFK, were both Democrats.

These are the reasons your question is flawed and your reasoning more so:

(1) The Republican administration raises military pay benefits. Some of the highest pay raises ever came from the current President. This is in stark contrast to the Clinton years, when the military suffered massive budget cuts and reduction in numbers, not to mention a number of serious quality of life issues.

(2) The American military is the best equipped in the world, in terms of sheer logistics and availability of parts and POL (that's Petroleum, Oil, Lubricants). It may not have the absolute best of everything (and indeed, smaller organizations such as the IDF are qualitatively superior) due to either bureaucratic intransigence or sheer funding issues with a large force, but it has most everything in plenty, with very few exceptions.

(3) The American military has a very, very clear idea of how to conduct and fight wars. There are a number of organizations such as CALL and the various war colleges that serve as think tanks for how to modernize the force and bring superior warfighting doctrine to the fore. A military that didn't know how to fight would not have overran both Iraq and Afghanistan each in a matter of weeks.

(4) The American military has done fairly well in insurgency, considering it has a tragic habit of dumping all the lessons learned immediately after each war, and having to relearn all of them by shedding blood. Contrast this with the exceedingly bloody campaigns the Russian military has conducted not once, but twice in Chechnya. Take a look at the low casualty figures suffered by the American military and where the majority of local national fatalities come from.

Just because you are not capable of following the debate on the conduct and likely direction the War on Terror is to face at any level other than perhaps a grade-schooler, is no reason for you to publicly display both your ignorance of the facts on the ground and a complete lack of the background knowledge that could give your assertions more teeth. You've taken the tired, old banner of American partisan politics and beat yourself into puking out the most ridiculous of questions.

If you're going to make a serious assertion, back it up with serious research. If you can't do so, then don't even try to be taken seriously.

Answer 3

If a Democratic President gets voted into office in the next election we can all say good bye to 50% of our active duty military... They are wanting to turn active into reserve only... Which is stupid... Republicans believe in a strong Military and I don't know where you got your info about our troops being poorly equipped but you need to check that information... And when there's a WAR you can't give a date when it will end, And you can't just know how to achieve victory it just happens... And right now the Troops that are fighting have a CLEAR strategy, Maybe you should do some research on that as well.... Please get some facts and re-ask the question.....

Answer 4

What has a rodent found in Arctic got to do with military supporters? My son is an officer & for generations my family have served in military & been Republican.
My son & nephews say Republicans show more respect, their pay has been raised, their housing is better. The Army has a new & stronger training program. The Democrats have cut the military budget everytime they have been in power. When the Republicans get in office it takes years to repair the damage from lack of funds from Democrats.
Just because you do not know or understand their strategy does not mean they do not have a clear strategy. My son understands his mens job in Afghanistan but they try not to advertise it on news since the enemy can watch it & some Americans are the enemies. They have lost the respect for our country.

Answer 5

Unless you were in the military don't try speak as a universal outlet for them. Officers and military diplomats in Washington couldn't do much even if they did object, and I'm sure a few do. As for the soldiers, they are the only heroes in the mix. They are told the colossal LIE that their presence in Iraq is helping to establish democracy, and free the Iraqis from an on-going oppression. These soldiers believe it, and fight harder to see it happen and help it happen. None of the people involved in the actual war, are making the decisions, but if they disagree and can't keep their mouths shut, they will be black-balled by the King's horses and all the King's men. Most of them aren't strong-willed enough to step down and relinquish the pointless puppetry of King George, so they stay they give out the essentials and they shut up when it comes to objective truths.

Answer 6

In my 24 years in the Air Force it was the democrats that cut my benefits the most. My retired medical benefits cut by Ms. Clinton capped it all off. On the other hand, the Republicans built such a strong military that the Wall came down.

Though I AM a democrat I WILL give credit to the Republicans for keeping our military strong. After all, a strong military is all that stands between big business in America (Republicans) and the enemy.

Answer 7

The only reason that I vote republican is because they are the only party that ups military pay and actually takes care of veterans. I am comparing this to democrates. If you take a good look at the history of who actually takes care of the veterans and active military personell, you will see that they both have their problems, but the republicans keep the military built up while the democrate always cut back on the military. I would still be in the Marine Corps if it wasn't for "Frisky Clinton". We need a large/powerful military to keep the country the way "we" want it. As for the current situation.....it's politics and every person in Washington that is responsible. Dems. and Reps. sent us to Iraq. Now that it is getting to a tough point many (dem and rep) want to flip sides because they know they wont get re-elected if they don't. I have to blame politicians in general for the problems our military is in today. Back to your original question....While I was on active duty I voted republican because I enjoyed the benefits (what little ones there were!) when they were in office. We didn't hear it on the news or read it in the paper, we saw it directly.

Answer 8

You sure are mixed up. That's a two way thing with our elected politicians on both sides. My personal oppinion is that anyone who runs for office should have to have completed a full honorable tour of duty in the military so they know something aboout the military before going into office.

Answer 9

You only hear what you hear. "Republicans" have the most money, and so imperialism buys this opinion that you hear, and also the support to fight for their interests. Go ahead and give me 50 thumbs down if you wish, but as Jack Nicholson said in one of his movies, "You want the truth? You can't HANDLE the truth!" (I am a Republican by the way)-and an ex-Marine, and through FACT AND RESEARCH, I find your opinion to be untrue, and so your statement is most likely based on someone elses uneducated or unresearched opinion, and since due to this fact, this makes YOU the lemming. Oops, there goes my best answer rating. It is also my opinion, based on history, that more Army personnel are being killed, as opposed to Marines, as of late, so, don't be offended Army dogs (or other branches)-I feel that our presence there, and history shows, that when this happens, we have gained "general" control of the combat situation there, and after the factions of Muslims can re-group and agree on who controls what, we will be outta there sooner than later.

Answer 10

Republicans generally grow the military in terms of numbers and equipment while Democrats generally shrink it.