Multiple wars, tours strain military readiness
ByFebruary 20, 2009
The strain of fighting wars on multiple fronts is hurting America’s military readiness, a report on the state of our armed forces shows.
With our soldiers serving multiple tours on an ever-increasing number of conflicts, the risk level remains at "significant" for the third straight year.
And the problem shows no signs of easing as President Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw troops from Iraq will take longer than originally hoped and an additional 17,000 troops are headed for the war in Afghanistan.
Reports Lolita Baldor of The Associated Press:
Strained by repeated war tours, persistent terrorist threats and instability around the globe, there is a significant risk the U.S. military may not be able to respond quickly and fully to new crises, a classified Pentagon assessment has concluded.
This is the third year that the risk level has been set at "significant" – despite improved security conditions in Iraq and plans to cut U.S. troop levels there. Senior military officials spoke about the report on condition of anonymity because it is a classified document.
The risk assessment, drawn up by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, paints a broad picture of the security threats and hot spots around the world and the U.S. military’s ability to deal with them. Mullen has delivered it to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The assessment is prepared every year and routinely delivered to Congress with the budget,
Because the threat is rated as significant, Gates will send an accompanying report to Congress outlining what the military is doing to address the risks. That report has not yet been finished.
2 Responses to Multiple wars, tours strain military readiness
griff
February 20, 2009 at 9:41 am
What’s that? Should we call this increase in Afghanistan a “surge”?
A few choice quotes from Obama…
February 5, 2008 – “And while Washington is consumed with the same drama and division and distraction, another family puts up a For Sale sign in the front yard. Another factory shuts its doors. Another soldier waves goodbye as he leaves on another tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged. It goes on and on and on.
The stakes are too high and the challenges too great to play the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expect a different result. This time must be different.”
February 12, 2008 – “It’s a game where the only way for Democrats to look tough on national security is by talking, and acting and voting like Bush-McCain Republicans, while our troops are sent to fight tour after tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and should’ve never been waged. That’s what happens when we use 9/11 to scare up votes, and that’s why we need to do more than end a war – we need to end the mindset that got us into war.”
“That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.”
“We’re not going to baby sit a civil war.”
“Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terrorism have reduced the pace of military transformation and have revealed our lack of preparation for defensive and stability operations. This Administration has overextended our military.”
“I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war.”
woody188
February 20, 2009 at 11:58 pm
The Pentagon must be having a hard time defending that half a trillion dollar budget during this fiscal crisis to accidentally and anonymously release a classified document right to the major propaganda wing, er excuse me I mean the mainstream corporate media conglomerate AP.