Military Update: Debate heats up over strained forces

[lebkuchen]

The Bush administration: laying seige to our military so they can push for privatization and enrich themselves with no-bid contracts.

Heinous.

http://estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=17064

Even before 9/11 and America’s global war on terrorism, U.S. military leaders argued that force levels needed to rise, or worldwide commitments needed to fall, to avoid wearing out troops and creating personnel shortfalls.

Two years, two wars and two prolonged U.S. occupation forces later, the strain on forces is broader and deeper than at any time since an all-volunteer force began 30 years ago.

The Bush administration has kicked the pace of operations into overdrive with the war in Iraq, on top of Afghanistan, homeland security, peacekeeping in Liberia and rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Still, the administration balks at the cost of expanding active forces beyond 1.37 million. Before he would endorse that, said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, he wants the services to ease deployment stress through bureaucratic reforms, by assigning and rotating troops more efficiently.