Not to be beaten by Senator John Warner who called last night for the beginning of modest troop withdrawals from Iraq, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace is reportedly going to urge President Bush to cut troop levels next year in Iraq by half. That would move the level deployed to roughly 80,000.
Reinforcing Pace and other generals uncomfortable with the maxed out conditions of the military, former JCS Army General George W. Casey Jr. reportedly stated that “We’re consumed with meeting the current demands, and we’re unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as we would like for other contingencies.”
The other contingencies refers mostly to Iran — which the military is not eager to engage, but knows that as long as the US armed forces look like they are near a breaking point, the value of the American military deterrent is low.
— Steve Clemons
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