Current mood:	Righteous Indignation
Current music:	The ringing in my infected right ear.

Oh BRAC, the blood of your brother cries out to me from the soil.
Brac. Brac, brac, brac... (Base Realignment and Closing Commission)

You went ahead and closed Fort Monmouth, in my home state of New Jersey. I'll quote at length from the NY Times article on the subject.

"It spent a considerable amount of time discussing Fort Monmouth in New Jersey before voting to close it. Philip E. Coyle III, a commission member who was the Pentagon's top weapons evaluator for much of the 1990's, said that the Defense Department has proposed breaking up a well-established facility at the wrong time - a time of war - and sending the pieces to places not known as "world class centers of excellence."

He noted that Fort Monmouth provides daily support for the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, and played a role in homeland security, saying it supported the police and firefighters after the Sept. 11 attacks with technical support that included cameras to search for victims. Fort Monmouth pumps about $1.4 billion into New Jersey each year, according to the Army.

Officials had lobbyed to preserve the bases. New Jersey officials had argued that Fort Monmouth should be kept open because few of those civilian engineers are thought to be prepared to move to Maryland and the Army will suffer a loss of scientific talent when it is most needed.

Representative Rush Holt, whose district takes in much of Fort Monmouth, said today after the vote that the base was leading the effort to detect and disarm roadside bombs in Iraq.

Gen. James T. Hill, a retired Army officer on the panel, had said during deliberations, however, that the plan to consolidate was about the future and noted the closure of the base was the single largest army savings generator."

So okay, you want to save some money, and look to the future. And you do this... by closing one of your most successful and relevant bases. That's like saying: "Gee, I'm having a little trouble meeting my household's monthly budget. I think I'll give up my house so that I don't have to pay the mortgage."

And how do you expect this to benefit the Armed Services in the future, when it seems to me that an even more disastrous Iraq experience will lead to even poorer recruitment results in the future, which will justify more base closures in the future. "Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera." Sing it, King of Siam.

I mean... jeezy creezy... let's hope the BRAC recommendations don't make it past Congress.

(The only up-side to this decision is that the Ft. Monmouth activities would be relocated to Aberdeen Proving Ground, in my adopted home of Maryland. But it's still a stupid decision).

If you get a chance, call up Rush Holt's office (he's the Rep for Monmouth), offer your sympathies, and ask what you can do to help. (202) 225-5801.

See you later, once they've closed everything else.