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Originally Posted by Seaver
Host, I doubt you've ever spent more than 4 minutes talking to anyone in the military... how do you know anything about it's last legs?
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As a result of the multiple deployments to Iraq, the "risk level" to US military readiness was raised to "significant" last year by the Chairman of the JCS.
A new classified Pentagon assessment that will be the subject of Congressional hearings later this month concluded that long battlefield tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with persistent terrorist activity and other threats, have prevented the U.S. military from improving its ability to respond to any new crisis.
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Despite security gains in Iraq, there is still a "significant" risk that the strained U.S. military cannot quickly and fully respond to another outbreak elsewhere in the world, according to the report.
Last year the Pentagon raised that threat risk from "moderate" to "significant." This year, the report will maintain that "significant" risk level — pointing to the U.S. military's ongoing struggle against a stubborn insurgency in Iraq and its lead role in the NATO-led war in Afghanistan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080209/..._assessment_14
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Perhaps "not on its last legs"...but certainly "broken" as a result of our 5 year occupation of Iraq.
At the same time, the Rand Corp, a DoD funded think tank released a report today that concluded the "US lacks the resources to fight insurgencies and we are fighting them the wrong way":
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"If Islamic insurgency is the gravest threat to the United States and its interests in the near to middle term, and if countering this insurgency requires a broad and balanced array of capabilities, the grim implication is that the United States is ill equipped to counter the gravest threat it faces," according to the study. "Therefore, it must invest to correct its [counter-insurgency] deficiencies and imbalances." The study, which suggests significantly reducing the reliance on large-scale U.S. military power in the Muslim world, recommends focusing on developing civilian capabilities aimed at undermining the appeal of insurgents, expanding information technology, and relying on "competent, legitimate and appropriate" local security forces.
full article
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