The Pentagon has issued a report detailing the obvious: the commitment of massive resources to the war in Iraq would have an impact on how the U.S. conducts other, simultaneous combat operations.
The senior U.S. military officer has told Congress the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan limit his forces' ability to deal with any additional armed conflicts. But the officer, General Richard Myers, says the United States will prevail in any conflict anyway.In a classified report to Congress made available to news organizations, General Myers said any additional U.S. military commitment would likely result in a longer conflict with more casualties than if U.S. forces were not already fighting in large numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan. But General Myers, who is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said the U.S. military would win any conflict it is assigned to fight. He repeated that view Tuesday speaking to reporters.
"The timelines may have to be extended. We may have to use additional resources, but it doesn't matter because we're going to be successful in the end," he said.
Here's how the Chinese Xinhua news service spun the story: "US commander: Military unable to win new wars."
Dream on.
Posted by Alan at May 4, 2005 06:16 AM