After 5 years of war, military shows fatigue

[Barrett808]

After 5 years of war, military shows fatigue
By Will Dunham - ANALYSIS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five years of warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan have left signs of wear and tear on the U.S. military, raising questions about its ability to sustain its current level of operations and confront potential new crises.

The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, ordered following the September 11 attacks, began on October 7, 2001, thrusting the all-volunteer U.S. military into combat that has continued unabated there and, since March 2003, in Iraq.

Senior military officers, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker, have warned of falling combat readiness of some units and mounting equipment shortfalls, with Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other equipment battered from extended use on the battlefield.

Many troops are facing second and third long combat tours and less time between overseas deployments. At the same time, the U.S. death toll mounts, with more than 2,730 troops killed in Iraq and about 280 more in Afghanistan.

"We're in the early stages of some sort of crisis that, if not addressed, will result in breaking the force," said retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich, a military expert at Boston University. "You'd have to be remarkably naive to think that we're going to be able to continue to place this level of stress on the force for all that much longer."

(more)

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-10-05T204659Z_01_N05387491_RTRUKOC_0_US-ARMS-USA-MILITARY.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C2-TopNews-newsOne-4

[SnowGoose]

1. Remarkably naive? Bush?

Nooooo.... say it isn't so.
:eyes: