Most Americans realize that the military is strained by long and repeated deployments, Bush, Cheney, McCain and the neocons in the Administration continue to downplay this serious problem. Today Colin Powell joined the ranks of those who are speaking out about the strain that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are putting on the troops.
More Below the Fold:
Powell said in an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America:
"...Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that President Bush's successor will have to come to grips with the reality that the United States cannot continue to keep such large numbers of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan..."
"...Powell said, "Whichever one of them becomes president on Jan. 1, 2009, they will face a military force that cannot continue to sustain 140,000 people deployed in Iraq and the 20 (thousand) odd or 25,000 people we have deployed in Afghanistan and our other deployments..."
"...Powell's comments...seemed to undercut Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain's position that the U.S. should stay the course in Iraq. But Powell also said that the next president will face limitations on bringing troops home, as Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton — rivals for the Democratic nomination — have promised to do..."
BTW, I’m in no way a Powell supporter. In fact, IMHO, he’s got to accept a lot of the blame for the fact that the troops are in Iraq, but that’s a discussion for another diary. In spite of the fact that the Administration’s actions have taken such a toll on the military, Powell still can’t seem to shake the pull of the GOP:
"...I'm looking at all three candidates ... I have not decided who I will vote for yet," said Powell, who donated $2,300 to McCain's campaign last year..."
I do hope that the Democratic Candidates both focus more on the fact that the status quo in Iraq can’t be maintained—and I’d like to hear from them about the actions that they would be taking to remove our troops from the Iraq quagmire. I also hope that they hammer McCain unrelentingly about his bizzare plan to keep the troops in Iraq until they stop being killed and then keep them there for an unlimited time after they stop being killed.