Pentagon says Iraq war erodes military's abilities - NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!!
In an annual classified report required by Congress, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said stress on manpower and equipment could limit the ability to win other possible wars as quickly as the Pentagon had previously forecast, defense officials said on Tuesday.
Myers stated in the report that U.S. armed forces would "succeed" in any future major conflict but "may be unable to meet expectations for speed or precision."
Any future armed conflicts "may result in significantly extended campaign timelines, and achieving campaign objectives may result in higher casualties and collateral damage," the report stated.
Potential hot spots include Iran, the Korean Peninsula and across the Taiwan Strait.
Myers, due to step down from his post in September, said the report showed "we have very high standards in how we measure ourselves."
"The timelines may have to be extended. And we may have to use additional resources. But that doesn't matter because we're going to be successful in the end," Myers told reporters.
The United States has about 138,000 troops in Iraq and another 17,000 in Afghanistan, and has shifted troops from such places as South Korea, where they guarded against aggression by communist North Korea, to maintain force levels to combat the Iraqi insurgency.
There are 1.4 million active-duty U.S. troops and another 1.2 million in the Reserve and National Guard.
The White House emphasized that the report maintained the U.S. military remained fully capable of meeting any threat posed in the world.
Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, told reporters traveling with President Bush aboard Air Force One to Mississippi: "We are at war, and that level of operations does have some impact on troops. But the president continues to be confident, as well as his military commanders, that we can meet any threat decisively."
A STRAINED MILITARY
The report mentioned depleted supplies of precision weapons, used in the opening stages of the Iraq war, and the heavy reliance on reserve units in Iraq and Afghanistan as factors affecting the U.S. military, officials said.
The report comes as the armed forces face strains because of the ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Many troops have long and repeated deployments to combat zones and more than 40 percent of those in Iraq and Afghanistan are members of the part-time Reserves and National Guard. The Army and Marines have run into acute recruiting problems in recent months and military equipment is subject to heavy wear and tear.
The report assessed as "moderate" the level of risk for the U.S. armed forces in protecting America in light of ongoing operations, and pegged the risk for preventing future armed conflict as moderate but becoming significant.
Bush was asked during an April 28 news conference whether troop commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan were limiting U.S. military options elsewhere in the world. Bush responded that he asked Myers a similar question.
"I say, 'Do you feel that we've limited our capacity to deal with other problems because of our troop levels in Iraq?' And the answer is, 'No,' he doesn't feel we're limited. He feels like we've got plenty of capacity," Bush told reporters.
In an annual classified report required by Congress, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said stress on manpower and equipment could limit the ability to win other possible wars as quickly as the Pentagon had previously forecast, defense officials said on Tuesday.
Myers stated in the report that U.S. armed forces would "succeed" in any future major conflict but "may be unable to meet expectations for speed or precision."
Any future armed conflicts "may result in significantly extended campaign timelines, and achieving campaign objectives may result in higher casualties and collateral damage," the report stated.
Potential hot spots include Iran, the Korean Peninsula and across the Taiwan Strait.
Myers, due to step down from his post in September, said the report showed "we have very high standards in how we measure ourselves."
"The timelines may have to be extended. And we may have to use additional resources. But that doesn't matter because we're going to be successful in the end," Myers told reporters.
The United States has about 138,000 troops in Iraq and another 17,000 in Afghanistan, and has shifted troops from such places as South Korea, where they guarded against aggression by communist North Korea, to maintain force levels to combat the Iraqi insurgency.
There are 1.4 million active-duty U.S. troops and another 1.2 million in the Reserve and National Guard.
The White House emphasized that the report maintained the U.S. military remained fully capable of meeting any threat posed in the world.
Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, told reporters traveling with President Bush aboard Air Force One to Mississippi: "We are at war, and that level of operations does have some impact on troops. But the president continues to be confident, as well as his military commanders, that we can meet any threat decisively."
A STRAINED MILITARY
The report mentioned depleted supplies of precision weapons, used in the opening stages of the Iraq war, and the heavy reliance on reserve units in Iraq and Afghanistan as factors affecting the U.S. military, officials said.
The report comes as the armed forces face strains because of the ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Many troops have long and repeated deployments to combat zones and more than 40 percent of those in Iraq and Afghanistan are members of the part-time Reserves and National Guard. The Army and Marines have run into acute recruiting problems in recent months and military equipment is subject to heavy wear and tear.
The report assessed as "moderate" the level of risk for the U.S. armed forces in protecting America in light of ongoing operations, and pegged the risk for preventing future armed conflict as moderate but becoming significant.
Bush was asked during an April 28 news conference whether troop commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan were limiting U.S. military options elsewhere in the world. Bush responded that he asked Myers a similar question.
"I say, 'Do you feel that we've limited our capacity to deal with other problems because of our troop levels in Iraq?' And the answer is, 'No,' he doesn't feel we're limited. He feels like we've got plenty of capacity," Bush told reporters.
~cheers
how great is that.