SENIOR OFFICERS WORRIED ABOUT OVERSTRETCHED MILITARY DUE TO WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

Sixty percent of the officer's surveyed by Foreign Policy Magazine said the military is weaker today than it was five years ago.

In addition to the human strain, there are now widespread reports much of the equipment that has been in use in Iraq and Afghanistan for over five years is worn out and desperately in need of repair or replacement.

Senior Officers Worried About Dangerously Overstretched U.S Military

By Ali Gharib, IPS NewsPosted on February 28, 2008, Printed on February 28, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/77744/

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (IPS) - The U.S. military is "severely strained" by two large-scale occupations in the Middle East, other troop deployments, and problems recruiting, according to a new survey of military officers published by Foreign Policy magazine and the centrist think-tank Center for a New American Security.

"They see a force stretched dangerously thin and a country ill-prepared for the next fight," said the report, 'The U.S. Military Index,' which polled 3,400 current and former high-level military officers.

Sixty percent of the officers surveyed said that the military is weaker now than it was five years ago, often citing the number of troops deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We ought to pay more attention to quality," said retired Lt. General Gregory Newbold, who retired from the Joint Chiefs of Staff in part over objections to the invasion of Iraq, at a panel during a conference to release the data.

From Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain to President George W. Bush, politicians regularly speak on the military from a position of authority. They know, they contend, that despite the two ongoing wars, the U.S is ready to deal with new threats militarily if need be.

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