Virginia Virtucon has a great post on "The Jumble of Contradictions that make up Jim Webb's Core Philosophy." He concludes "let’s all sit back and reflect on the jumble of contradictions that is Jim Webb (D-WaPo)." I take up the gauntlet. On July 9, Senator Webb introduced an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act. The hand marked up version of the amendment is available here.

The amendment while couched in terms of supporting the troops and assuring them proper rest and recuperation at home, is actually a nasty piece of business that would destroy unit readiness and cohesion, while preventing units from being filled in with experienced veterans. The bill requires that each unit and each person being deployed to OIF and OEF have been home at least as long as its previous deployment.

Imagine yourself as a company commander living with this nightmare of legislation. Your unit completed a year long deployment 15 months ago. Your unit meets the minimum stay at home requirement. But 2nd and 3rd platoon have newly assigned senior non-commissioned officers. The NCOIC in 2nd platoon is a combat veteran who returned from OIF 11 months ago. His experience and effective leadership have made 2nd platoon a cohesive and effective force. The lives of the men in 2nd platoon depend on this effective leadership. In order to deploy you must transfer this effective veteran and replace him with a less experienced and effective leader. In doing so you realize that the safety of your men may be compromised by this decision. What a tangled Webb.

No clear thinking trained military officer would ever want to be put into this trap. It is further evidence of Senator Webb's mental breakdown that Virginia Virtucon identifies.