Joint Chiefs Raise Alarm To Bush

WASHINGTON — At a key juncture in the Iraq war, the military chiefs conveyed to President Bush on Friday their concern about a growing strain on troops and their families from long and repeated combat tours.

Bush met privately at the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in preparation for decisions about how long to sustain the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq, whether to change course this fall and how to save the health of a heavily stressed Army and Marine Corps.

There are no signs that the Pentagon's top generals and admirals are pushing for an early end to the war, but they are concerned not only about strains on troops but also about the possibility that the heavy focus on counterinsurgency warfare in Iraq leaves the military ill-prepared in the event of a crisis elsewhere.

"Secretary Gates wanted the Joint Chiefs to tell the president directly their assessment of the surge and the impact it is having on the forces, and that is what happened," the official said. He offered no details................r.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070831/us-iraq/

and disbanded their army in the first few months, and their leader is long dead. War's already over, assclowns! It's year 4 of the OCCUPATION now! Any thought to ending THAT?