It seems that the only people who don´t think that the US armed forces are dangerously close to breaking point are the political chiefs at the top of The Pentagon – Democratic Party reports can be dismissed as politically motivated of course, but their findings should be at least examined as a matter of due diligence – but it´s not just the Democrats, reports about a recruitment crisis date back months and years, and with the US increasingly committing its soldiers to long overseas tours in campaigns that are primarily being waged to feather the nests of the Republican bankrollers, it´s little wonder that fewer and fewer of the nation´s youth want to commit their lives to such an objective.
It is vital that this is not just swatted aside as more political knock-about. If the US is so weakened that it simply cannot take on further military operations without seriously scaling back existing ones, then this is hugely important to world stability, especially in the face of America´s current doctrine and Iran´s supposed nuclear ambitions.
It´s easy to point the finger at the current White House and again berate them for their sloppy approach to post-war Iraq and the obvious destabilising effect of military adventure – but we are where we are. Had the US spent more time trying to build a genuine coallition, there would be more resource to count on in helping to build a stable and democratic Iraq – but then that was only ever the gloss on the true ambition hence the lack of coallition. Again, we are where are, so where do we go from here?
The obvious answer is to get out of Iraq smarthish – imperialistic ambtion may demand the retainment of bases and a small troop commitment, but the masses can be brought home as soon as the new government demands it. The best option here would be to attempt to build a true international peacekeeping force with strong Moslem element, but this means relinquishing control and imperialistic ambition – perhaps a stretch too far for this White House which has already gambled so much on this shoddy invasion.
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I completely agree.
I am just listening to yesterdays NBC Meet the Press podcast, and Tim Russet is just posing the question of troop numbers to Sen. Bill Frist. Of course the good doctor stated that ‘in hindsight – 20/20 today, I would have probably put more troops is, if the decision had been up to me.’
He also reinstated the disinformation that Iraq has 100 battalions – I thought this had been debunked? I suppose if you say something enough times it slips into the public consciousness and becomes the accepted truth. Truth is not reality; it’s increasingly what is believed. This of course has always been the case.
It’s Rumsfeld’s obduracy in conducting ‘war-lite’ that has cost the Americans and the Iraqi people dearly. We are a long way from the concept of a ‘clean-war’ (if we indeed ever realise this oxymoron) and Rumsfeld swallowed the arms-dealer (see United Defense) line hook line and sinker.
Rumsfeld’s strategic competence has been exposed time and time again over the last half-decade, yet Bush refuses to admit his limitations. Other than managing Newcastle United I can’t think of another suitable retirement role.