quote:Originally posted by pba:
U.S. generals - Iraq hurt ability to fight elsewhere:
The United States' ability to take on a new fight has been hurt by its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the top military officials for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps told Congress on Tuesday.
http://tinyurl.com/2u46dp
pba,
Since you did not put any of your own thought on this, I guess I better, the issue of preparedness has been with us for a long time. The strain got heavier with the all Volunteer Army.
Bush started a war in Iraq. That war is not much approved of in the USA. That makes getting ground pounders into uniform is difficult, and the ones already there are toughing it out. If Bush can't sell the war to the people, how is he expecting to increase the force level on active duty by 92 thousand?
That detail was not in what you posted, it was in the State of the Union Speech.
Between WW II ahd the end of the Vietnam war Young American Men had an obligation to serve. They call it the draft, and it was a reality for every young man in the country. When recruiting goals were not reached, the draft board called up a few warm bodies and filled the vacancies.
The Generals are right, we need a strong, prepared technologically advanced fighting force. For the defense of the country. The USA is not the only outfit that would like to be King of The Hill.
What it boils down to is the PNAC/Bush doctrine was supposed to work with nothing more than the unsheathing of America"s Might. Actually deploying and blasting our way to a National Capital was not expected by the military, or the civilian population. WE NEED MORE TROOPS. and we are not getting them.