Question: How many American Troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq?
Answer: The U.S. troop level in Afghanistan was just increased by 3,200 so that now a total of 155,000 (120,000 in Iraq and 35,000 in Afghanistan) are deployed in the region. The U.S. military is a volunteer army and can not sustain such high levels of commitment. Thus whoever has to clean up after Mr. Bush leaves office will have some tough choices to make. The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating and the medieval Thaliban are resurgent in some areas of the country. In Iraq, only 3 of Mr. Bush’s 18 "Benchmarks" that were originally introduced to measure the success of "the surge" have been met. Any troop withdrawal without political reconciliation will be problematic.
As he has done with the US economy, Mr. Bush has take a perfectly good tool, the US military, and completely wrecked it. I can’t wait to hear Mr. Bush’s State of the Union address in which he will lay out an alternate reality that is rosy, fuzzy and warm. WTF were the voters of this country thinking when they elected a guy like that? Someone should analyze this historic fiasco and educate all of us to make sure we never make this mistake again.
What’s that? You do not believe that Mr. Bush has broken the U.S. military? Read this article entitled "Dumb and Dumber" that describes how recruitment standards for the U.S. Army are in free fall.
Read Rep. John Murtha’s take on the hidden cost of the Iraq fiasco.
