U.S. Military 'Death Spiral'
"...Then there's the equipment shortage. The Army's vice chief of staff, Gen. Richard A. Cody offers a stark assessment.
The shortages have deepened as scarce equipment and personnel are funneled to those units next in line to deploy overseas, creating ever bigger holes in the units that will leave later. "It's like a hurricane drawing everything into the center of the eye," said a senior Army officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
"For the National Guard, those shortages are even more," Cody said. Army National Guard figures show that 88 percent of its units are "not ready."
Everyone needs to remember that the military "death spiral" happened on Bush's watch, a Republican administration, during the 109th Republican Congress. This is what Reid and Pelosi and the Democrats inherited just this year. It's going to be worse when a Democratic president takes over in '09. We can't let the Republicans or the American people forget what Republicans did to our military.
Again, how do we ask a soldier to be the last man or woman to die for a mistake, long after the original mission, minus the reasoning, has been accomplished?
The next question is how do we destroy our military in the process and not pay a very large price in the end? Our enemies are watching, not just in Iraq, but around the world. The answers matter.
Unfortunately, all the White House can say is "zip it."
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