http://democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=287515&
November 14, 2007
Senators, Military Experts Discuss How Our Strained Military Impacts
National Security
Washington, DC—
Key Democratic Senators, retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey,
Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Lawrence J. Korb and Third
Way Vice President Matt Bennett held a panel discussion today to
discuss how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have strained our ground
forces, and what Congress and the military can do to address these
problems.
Our troops and their families suffer from extended deployments, the
war strategy has stretched our forces thin, and our focus in the
Middle East leaves us ill-equipped for the next attack or crisis.
“The wars have also stretched our troops thin, failing to provide them
the support, rest, equipment or training they need. This strain on
our military is one of the most serious consequences of the Iraq war,”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
“We have to face the reality that with more than 160,000 troops in
Iraq, our military simply does not have the flexibility it needs to
handle the unknowns. I believe that if we work together – civilian,
military, Democrat, Republican – we can find solutions to rebuild our
military, refocus on the fight against terrorism, and redirect our
foreign policy to truly make America safer. This will continue to be
one of my highest priorities as Majority Leader.”
Said Senator Evan Bayh, a Member of the Senate Armed Services
Committee:
“The Bush administration has broken faith with the armed forces of the
United States, and rebuilding that trust must be of highest priority.
We are at a major turning point in the threats facing the nation. We
must have the courage to shift gears, because business as usual risks
leaving us with an exhausted military ill-equipped to meet the
changing threats of a dangerous world.”
“The administration has continuously had three options to stabilize
the situation in Iraq: meaningful international diplomacy, national
reconciliation within the country, and the employment of our military.
We have used this third option of calling on our military time and
time again,” said Senator Webb, a Vietnam combat veteran and former
Secretary of the Navy.
“Every time there has been a crisis, our military have done all that
has been asked of them tactically to control the battle space before
them. But, until we have a smart diplomatic formula in place to match
the work of our servicemembers on the ground, we will lack the ability
to withdraw from Iraq in a responsible way and continue to have an
overburdened military. We have placed great strain on our men and
women in uniform through repeat and extended deployments and left
ourselves ill-prepared to respond to crises in other regions of the
world.”
Said McCaffrey:
“The departure of so many talented Captains and Majors tells me the
Army is at risk of breaking. We simply can’t fight today’s or
tomorrow’s wars without them and they are leaving in alarming
numbers.”
“Our current U.S. Army was not built for the long war, and therefore
we’ve had to break our moral contract with our men and women in
uniform,” Korb said. “This is just one of the reasons why we need to
get out of Iraq.”
Said Bennett:
“The Army is the tip of the spear in our arsenal, and that spear has
been blunted. Unless our leaders act now to fix the Army and
re-sharpen the spear, the United States will be in serious danger.”
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Harry
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