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Re: Obama’s “Private Army"

Posted : Monday Jul 7, 2008 21:54:17 EDT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama included a pitch to enlist in the military in a speech here Wednesday about the need for Americans to be volunteers in all walks of life.

Speaking before an audience that included military veterans, families of current service members and at least one military officer in uniform, Obama said Americans expected a call to serve after the 9/11 terrorist attacks “but the call never came.”

Obama said he has met thousands of people who joined the military after 9/11, but the burden of serving the U.S. “has fallen exclusively ... on the backs of people in the military and their families, even though they have not received the care and support they deserve.”

Part of Obama’s national security plan calls for a 65,000-person increase in the Army and a 27,000 increase in the Marine Corps.

“We need to ease the burden on our troops while meeting the challenges of the 21st Century,” he said. “That is why I will call on a new generation of Americans to join our military.”

But, in a related call that might diminish the number of people headed to military recruiters, Obama also said he wanted to increase the size of AmeriCorps, the program for domestic national service, to 250,000 people — a proposal that drew more applause than his call for military recruits from the audience at the campus of the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. AmeriCorps has just 75,000 slots for volunteers today.
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Posted in reply to: Re: Obama’s “Private Army" by Toast
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