McCaffrey: Army near 'breaking' point

Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 3, 2006 at midnight

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COLORADO SPRINGS – The Iraq war has left the United States military in critical condition, stretched beyond its limits in manpower and equipment and in danger of "breaking," a retired U.S. Army general said here today.

"The United States Army is stumbling toward the edge of a cliff. It’s starting to unravel," said Gen. Barry McCaffrey, speaking at a homeland defense symposium.

"It has about $61 billion in equipment shortages. It has a $50 billion shortfall in the vital equipment and parts you need to run a war," said the former commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command and former drug czar under President Bill Clinton.

The Army’s 14 brigades now deployed in Iraq have their full complement of troops with competent leadership, said McCaffrey, but "the other two-thirds of the Army’s combat brigades are not ready to fight."

McCaffrey said that any additional crisis such as heightened tensions in Korea or Taiwan or the death of Fidel Castro in Cuba or even a domestic terrorism or disaster incident could push the Army beyond its limits.

"If the other shoe drops, we are breaking the U.S.Army," McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey said the Army has been fighting on "World War II footing" since 9-11, straining its capacity.

"I think it's irresponsible. I think we put the nation in the position of strategic peril," he said.

McCaffrey said the blame falls not only on the Bush Administration, but also on Congress, which has the constitutional responsibility to raise and fund the armed forces.

The kickoff speaker of the three-day symposium, McCaffrey said the U.S. has no choice but to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan for the near term, but it must change its approach from military occupation to rebuilding the countries' economy and forging political alliances with other countries in the region to achieve stability.

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