Military Says Wars Strain U.S. Manpower -may not be able to win a new war

[demo dutch]

This is an invitation to terrorists...Can it get any worse!!!!!!!!!
or is it a justification for implementing a draft?

Yahoo- By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military may not be able to win any new wars as quickly as planned because the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have strained its manpower and resources, the nation's top military officer told Congress in a classified report.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the U.S. military as in a period of increased risk, according to a senior defense official, who described the report Tuesday on the condition of anonymity.

Myers predicted the risk would go down in a year or two, the official said. Myers provided the report to Congress Monday.

Still, the report says the U.S. military is able to win any conflict it becomes involved in, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

"We are at war and that level of operations does have some impact on troops," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. "But the president continues to be confident, as well as his military commanders, that we can meet any threat decisively."

The military's reorganization toward Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's vision of a lean, agile force, should reduce what increased risk it is facing, Whitman said.

Among the most likely conflicts the Pentagon foresees in the near term are with North Korea and Iran, the two remaining members of President Bush's "axis of evil." The Bush administration accuses both of having ambitions to become a nuclear power; North Korea has already claimed it has nuclear weapons.

The U.S. military has timelines in place for defeating its potential adversaries, given enough soldiers, tanks, aircraft and warships to do the job. But with so much of those resources tied up fighting insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, those timelines could slip, Myers said, according to the defense official.

About 138,000 American troops are in Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command. Another 18,000 are in Afghanistan.

Military officials have given no precise estimate when they will be able to significantly draw down the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, but some generals have suggested it could come next year if Iraqi security forces continue to improve in quality and grow in numbers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050503/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_military_risk;_ylt=Aq8dUCGfd2PTwsZiU2wtQkes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2MTQ3MTFjBHNlYwN0cw--

[arcane1]

1. indeed, imagine if we had to face a REAL threat!!!

:scared:

[democracyindanger]

2. Hmm...now where did I hear that before...

Lessee...I think it was in 2000...

[demo dutch]

7. Maybe also in 2004, but I wonder what does this country need

to WAKE UP. Is it another terrorist attack, because that's just a matter of time. And if that happens, are they going to rally around that idiot again??!!

Or is this going to be the justification for implementing a draft?

[CottonBear]

3. We can't win the two we're in now.

Lord, what a disaster * has brought upon our country and our military.

[devinsgram]

34. Exactly, someone at the Pentagon needs to learn to tell the truth.

[phantom power]

4. Somebody should have mentioned...

we're not even winning this one.

[n2mark]

6. Thanks shrub

or whoever is in control, you succeeded in making us a target for terrorists.

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. So this is an admission of incompetence.

[skylarmae]

5. I thought that at the end of Vietnam, we said never again fight

a war we weren't prepared to fight to win. So, what are we doing in Afghanistan and Iraq? IMHO we are not 'fighting to win', we are just fighting. God forbid we have to face another front. Thanks again Georgie Porgie. Can yawl say draft.....

[Charles19]

10. Depends on the definition of winning

According to my definition of winning there is nothing to win in Iraq.

There was no threat to the US from Iraq and there won't be. Well, after all the training camps trainees get to us there might be but that is because of the occupation.

I don't even know what to say about Afghanistan since no one has any idea what is going on there. Vive le U.S. press.

So I say even if we decided to fight "to win" there isn't anything to win. An occupation and an attempted rebuilding effort between the two probably costing a trillion dollars by the time it is all said and done is not what this administration sold the public on. Well they didn't sell any people on this board on it but they sure sold a lot of other people on it.

[halobeam]

11. Just let 'em ... then he'll have no more support

NOTHING.

[uppityperson]

8. Um, win a "new war", how about an old war?

Your subject line got me to snort.

[movonne]

9. The problem is we have not won any wars including Vietnam, Iraq

and Afghanistan...We sure do not need another..How much more money can we throw at another war...

[Lizzie Borden]

12. As I recall, WWII was the last war we won.

[Cooley Hurd]

32. Hey now, what about Greneda?

:silly:

[Zorra]

13. If a powerful nation "blitzkrieged" the US tomorrow, we would be so

fucked.

Bush has left us vulnerable within our own borders.

[Voltaire99]

26. LOL! Where do you get such an idea?

Rest assured that your country's bloated nuclear arsenal means nobody will be "blitzkrieging" it any time soon.

You might also want to check the list of "powerful nations," too, for fuck's sake.

As history shows, the world has much more to fear from America than it from the world.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

31. And who might this "powerful nation" be? Do they have a large navy....

...and lots of landing craft? And do they have a large air force capable of covering offensive operations and attacking targets of their own?

As the only remaining superpower we are basically unopposed...why do you think the NeoCons feel they can attack any weaker country and get away with it?

[Qanisqineq]

14. Won't * just take this as a challenge?

He'll start a new war then declare "mission accomplished" 60 days later to show this guy he is wrong and that "God is on our side".

Then we'll be stuck in yet another quagmire for the next decade.

[bemildred]

15. He's talking about us attacking someone else, not anyone invading us.

Just wanted to point that out.

[NeoConsSuck]

17. Any *new* wars?

Jesus, how many wars do these pack of hoodlums have planned?

What the hell is this country coming to? Instead of worrying about improving the quality of our society, rebuilding the infrastructure, improving education, health care, taking better care of the environment, we're concerned because our future battles might not be as easy and as much fun as killing Iraqi families was.

What a legacy we are leaving our children. I swear, I'm way past the point of being 'not proud of being an american'. I'm actually disgusted that I have to call myself one.

[driver8]

22. I'm with you, NeoConsSuck...

I never thought that I would be ashamed to be an American. I always thought that America was "the good guys"...that we helped other countries when they needed it. Yeah, we help them all right...we help them by bombing them back to the freakin' stone age.

Our country is in sad shape -- schools, health care, environment, etc...and all our leaders care about is who they are going to bomb next and where to steal the money to pay for it.

I fucking hate shrubby and company-- absolutely fucking hate them. I believe in karma, but when do these criminals "get theirs"??

[dchill]

18. Surely this will rally

young Republicans to enlist. Their dedication cannot be questioned. Can it?

[NNN0LHI]

19. This is actually a prelude to the draft n/t

[driver8]

20. Bush replied, "Bring 'em on"!

Hey military, tell us something we don't know. Only the biggest idiot in the world couldn't figure out that the US couldn't win another war.

Oh, wait...the shrub and his neocon nazi friends haven't figured it out, have they??

Why isn't shrub and co. standing trial right now for lying to the american people regarding this war?? If Clinton had pulled this shit, you would have found him being dragged behind a car down Pennsylvania Ave.

[NNN0LHI]

21. Couldn't win another war? These idiots haven't won the 2 we are in now n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

23. Anyone feel a "draft" coming on?

[Daphne08]

24. If our citizens stand still for a draft...

then this country is lost!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. I'm curious how a military draft could be stopped....

...the NeoCons have the vote count in Congress, and their Fearless Fuhrer who would sign it into law.

Additionally, the US now has agreements with all of the countries used for refuge during the Vietnam War to have all Americans fleeing current wars returned to the US.

Whatever action is taken to stop the draft must be taken here in the US...and people must be willing to suffer whatever consequences result from such action.

[Cooley Hurd]

30. That's the only logical reason why the Pentagon would make such...

...an admission. The language being used makes it sound like there's an impending national emergency caused by this lack of troop strength. It could be an attempt to soften people up to the idea of a draft.

Can there be any other reason why they'd admit such a thing?:shrug:

[Voltaire99]

27. Sounds like good news, actually

If the empire's too strapped of men and dough to go pillaging, the world instantly becomes a safer place.

Of course the message of this article is that the nation must start making more sacrifices for its military. How fucked up is that?

[Mountainman]

28. "But the president continues to be confident " That is so reasurring!

The idiot in cheif is confident and that is supposed to mean something?

[Cooley Hurd]

29. A very strange PR move by the Pentagon...

The corporate propaganda arms of the gov't (CNN, MSNBC, Faux) have been reporting this story pretty intensely for the last two days.

The only logical reason for this is to inform the people, in no uncertain terms, that we need troops and need them ASAP - and to soften them up for an impending re-establishment of a draft.

Mark my words...:(

[SKKY]

33. Yea, lest we not forget we're not even fighting a "real" military here...

...what would happen if, oh I don't know, North Korea lights off. I'll tell you what would happen, while your soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen are dying, THEY would say, "Well, we're still suffering from those dire, dramatic, gutting, cutbacks from the Clinton Administration."

[Moderator]

35. demo dutch

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
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Thank you.


DU Moderator

[Charles19]

36. I wonder if they are saying things like this to sucker Iran into

pre-empting them. Thus giving them a reason to bomb Iran.

[harpo]

37. So instead of a draft...let us get attacked again so more people join?

[LiberallyInclined]

38. One thing that makes me happy in all this-

i'm too old and infirmed to be drafted, and i don't have any kids.

i guess that's two things.