President Bush announced new plans for a larger and more effective military:

“President Bush said today that he plans to expand the size of the U.S. military to meet the challenges of a long-term global war against terrorists, a response to warnings that sustained deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the armed forces to near the breaking point.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Bush said he has instructed newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to report back to him with a plan to increase ground forces. The president gave no estimates about how many troops may be added but indicated that he agreed with suggestions in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that the current military is stretched too thin to cope with the demands placed on it.

I was “boots on the ground” during the last reshaping and refitting of the military during the Reagan years - which was necessary because of the decimation of the Carter years. Consequently, the Bush years has in effect been a rebuilding and redesigning effort as opposed to the decimation and sliming down of the Military during the Clinton years.

See the trend? While the President is still Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces, therefore his will rules, the newly elected antiwar Democratic Congress holds the purse strings.

Again, the Crawford Kid is holding the ACE, as Gates will no doubt quickly bring back recommendations for a larger more effective force and this will mean more cash needed to fund it. The Democrats will balk and sulk and whine and say that “Defense spending is out of control!” - as they always have (even though they are the party of big government and spending).

Subsequently they will be left with a choice. 1) Deny the funding and thus get branded “Anti-Military/War on Terror”, or 2) Piss off their uber moonbat base and give in to the plan.

With 2008 looming it’s going to be fun to see how they play their cards.

More reacts at Stop the ACLU and Hot Air.