My husband brought this to my attention this morning so I thought I'd share. She links to some great stuff. The latest is
Botched Management from The Center for American Progress:
Last month, 103 soldiers, Marines, airmen and seamen died in Iraq, "the war's fourth-deadliest month and the worst since January 2005." A classified briefing prepared two weeks ago by the United States Central Command, the New York Times reports today, "portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos." (One slide said violence is at an "all-time high.") Despite the grim news out of Iraq, Bush continues to implicitly accuse opponents of his Iraq policy of not supporting the troops. "Whatever party you're in," Bush said yesterday, "our troops deserve the full support of our government." Yet, his administration's strategic miscalculations and gross mismanagement of resources have pushed the all-volunteer force perilously close to its breaking point. "Unfortunately," the Center for American Progress' Larry Korb, Max Bergmann, and Peter Ogden wrote, "the current state of the Army and the Marines has yet to become the rallying cry this election season. It should."
EQUIPMENT TAKING A TOLL:The military faces severe equipment shortages. Forty-two percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans said their equipment was below the military standard of being 90 percent operational. Thirty-five percent said their Humvees and trucks were not up-armored when they arrived in-country. "he Army is showing the wear and tear of constant battle after nearly five years of war." As a result, the Army is being forced to cut resources to nondeployed forces to make sure front-line troops maintain combat readiness. The Marines are also feeling the crunch. After three years in Iraq, "the Marine Corps has maintained 40 percent of its ground equipment, 50 percent of its communications equipment, and 20 percent of its aviation assets in Iraq. This equipment is used at as much as nine times its planned rate, abused by a harsh environment, and depleted due to losses in combat." "The cost of restoring the Marines’ ground and aviation equipment to its pre-Iraq level, as of the summer of 2006, will require $12 billion plus an additional $5 billion for each year the Marines remain in Iraq."
more...
http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/BarbraStreisand/articlesofinterest.htmlon edit: I should clarify, this is her website at Sony Music.