Thursday, January 26, 2006

A Stretched Military

I expect much to do will soon be made about this statement from General George Casey:
"The forces are stretched ... and I don't think there's any question of that."
The article goes on to make this statement:
His comments are likely to fuel a debate inside the U.S. government over whether the United States can sustain the fight long enough to break the back of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency.
Now if someone were to ask me, is the Army going to have trouble sustaining the fight long enough to break the back of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency? I would probably answer yes. It would be a stupid answer and would probably be broadcast around the world as the Bush Lied! soundbite of the week. This is why I'm not a General or spokesman for the Bush administration.

If I was smart I would not answer "Yes". I would answer like this: Breaking the back of the insurgency isn't our job. Our job is to build up and defend the Iraqi government, military, police, and people so that they can defeat the insurgency themselves. In the long run, the Iraqis need to be able to be able to deliver peace and security for themselves. You sir, asked the wrong question.

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