Top US commando says strain of war limits forces elsewhere

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are making such heavy use of the nation's Green Berets and other elite warriors that they cannot fulfill their roles in other parts of the world, the military's top commando told The Associated Press on Monday.

"We're going to fewer countries, staying for shorter periods of time, with smaller numbers of people than historically we have done," Adm. Eric T. Olson said in his first interview since becoming commander of U.S. Special Operations Command last July.

Olson, himself a combat veteran, saw little chance that the demand for his special operations forces in Iraq will decline anytime soon. Even as the overall American force there shrinks - from about 158,000 now to about 140,000 by the end of July - the number of special operations forces in the war zone is likely to increase, he said.

More of these specially trained, often secretive forces may be required in Iraq in order to fill a niche role in the development of Iraqi security forces as the number of conventional Army troops goes down, he said.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/ELITE_WARRIORS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-05-05-17-54-16

I'm sure that Latin Americans feel really deprived.