Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later: “Army recruits shortfall blamed on Iraq war critics.” The scapegoat brigade, it seems, is spearheaded by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) who notes that Senators who criticized the war “contributed to the propaganda of U.S. enemies.” Uh-huh. Hey, I’ve got a good one: Senators who rubber-stamped and cheered on an incompetent war plan are contributing to the actual success of U.S. enemies. But enough of that; dropped at the very, very bottom of the article is some actually disturbing news:
In his testimony, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee said readiness for battalion and squadron-sized Marine units had dropped by 40 percent because of the priority put on sustaining units in Iraq at the expense of the units that had rotated out of the war.
For more on this, see this old Phillip Carter post, who argues that “the U.S. military will preserve itself rather than let the war tear it apart.” That, it seems, is going to be the upper limit of our stay in Iraq.
