Think back 10 or 15 years. The evil Soviet empire had recently collapsed. The United States stood alone as the world’s sole superpower, without military rival. At the time many people believed that America should be able to significantly reduce its military spending. After all, what country out there could seriously threaten us?
Fast forward a decade. Against that backdrop, how bizarre does this headline seem?
Sapped by nearly six years of war, the Army has nearly exhausted its fighting force and its options if the Bush administration decides to extend the Iraq buildup beyond next spring.
The Army’s 38 available combat units are deployed, just returning home or already tapped to go to Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere, leaving no fresh troops to replace five extra brigades that President Bush sent to Baghdad this year, according to interviews and military documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
What a turnabout. The military machine which once stood without foe is now stretched too thin to maintain its current operations. And the real kicker is that the “enemy” that has exhausted our military capabilities did not attack us with nuclear weapons, battleships, or tanks. But instead launched its most deadly attack with knives and box cutters.
What a weird world.