AP: Iraq Report Casts Military As War-Weary

[Eugene]

Iraq Report Casts Military As War-Weary

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

Saturday, December 9, 2006 10 39 AM

(12-09) 10:39 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --

Beyond its prescriptions for fixing Iraq, the special commission that studied
a new approach to the war also spotlighted less obvious military ills that have
deepened as fighting has dragging on.

The military is war-weary, the defense budget is in danger of disarray, and
relations between the military brass and their civilian overseers are frayed,
the Iraq Study Group said. The bipartisan panel's report poses tough challenges
for Robert Gates, who has no previous Pentagon management experience but
will become defense secretary on Dec. 18.

According to the commission's assessment:

-snip-

"U.S. military forces, especially our ground forces, have been stretched nearly
to the breaking point," the report said. This has made recruiting more difficult
and accelerated wear on equipment, it said.

"Many units do not have fully functioning equipment for training when they
redeploy to the United States," the study group said. "The American military
has little reserve force to call on if it needs ground forces to respond to other
crises around the world."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/12/09/national/w103916S85.DTL

[Ian David]

1. Or, as the Repukes call it, they suffer from emotional wellness insecurity. n/t