Ray Malone's Commentary

How many years does it take to build an army? Many of us believe that 3 years is plenty of time. We know Iraq has failed to build an army in 3 years. How long would it take to build an Army from scratch in the USA?

We know how long it takes to make a private... about two months. It takes about 5 months to make a 2nd Lieutenant. But it takes an additional year to make a 1st Lieutenant. Another year to make a Captain. Then add a couple of years at least to make a Major. A few more to get enough experience to become a Lieutenant Colonel. A few more to make full Colonel and a few more to make a General.

Some members of the US Army make Colonel in 17 or 18 years. But many do not. Few, if any, make General before they have 22 years in the Service.

I point this out to remind people that building an army from scratch in 3 years, as Democrats expect, is to expect a performance far better than the USA Army can do.

There are those that say we should have retained Saddam's army. But Saddam's army's members were originally picked because they were loyal to Saddam. The higher the rank the more loyal to Saddam they had to be. Keeping an army full of militant Bathist commanders dedicated to our defeat would have been a very stupid Idea only an ignorant Democrat could support.

We knew we could produce privates in a very short time... 2 months. And it only takes a few months longer to create sergeants.

But it is the officer core that it takes years to build.

Can we build a viable army in shorter time than it takes in the US? Certainly. But can we do it in 3 years? I don't think so. We need an Iraqi force that is viable from private to Sergeant Major. We need an officer core that is viable through at least the Lieutenant Colonel level. That can not be done in 3 years. We may get it done in 4 or 5 years.

But we will soon be at the point where the exposure to combat will be nearly all Iraqi troops. Today Several Democrats are saying that they want to cut and run. They would, if elected, just cut off the funding for the war. President Bush would be forced to bring the troops home.

How long after that huge defeat do you think it would take the Militant Islamists to attack the USA again. If our Army can not stop the terrorists from killing civilians in Iraq do you think it could prevent such attacks here in the states?

We all know the borders to the states are not protected. Terrorists could come in over the Mexican border any time they want to. But they have not. There can only be one reason. They fear what George W. Bush would do in return.

But if George W. Bush's hands are tied by a Democrat House or Senate, then why would they fear.

How many more Americans will have to die before we understand that if we don't fight them over there with our troops, we will have to fight them over here with our civilian population.