Chuck Pena’s analysis of what has happened to our military in Iraq

[kpete]

Iraq or Bust By
Expert Analysis by Charles V. Peña

A prominent group of U.S. defense experts, chaired by former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and including retired Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General John Shalikashvili, has issued a clarion call that “two-thirds of the Army's operating force, active and reserve, is now reporting as unready.” General H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, has also acknowledged that more than two-thirds of the Army National Guard's 34 brigades are not combat ready. Apparently, the active duty Army claims to be in better shape but is suffering from the same problem. One Army official admits that active duty Army units serving in a war zone are 100 percent combat ready, but not other units. Other data reported to the House Armed Services Committee implies units deployed to Iraq are also in low readiness. According to Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker, the primary problem is a funding shortfall resulting in an inability to repair or replace equipment as it is being used up in conflict. Schoomaker’s assertion implies that if the equipment problem can be fixed, the U.S. Army can prevail in Iraq. But even if current equipment shortfalls can be remedied (General Schoomaker believes the Army needs more than $17 billion in 2007 and General Blum thinks it could cost as much as $21 billion for the Army National Guard), the real problem in Iraq is not just equipment; it includes manpower and perhaps a bit more.

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