Military at Risk, Congress Warned
WASHINGTON — Strains imposed by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have made it far more difficult for the U.S. military to beat back any future act of aggression, launch a preemptive strike or intervene to prevent conflict in another part of the world, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a classified analysis sent to Congress on Monday.
In a sober assessment of the Pentagon's reduced ability to deal with global threats, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said that the American military was at greater risk this year than last of being unable to properly execute the missions it needed to prepare for around the globe. The assessment states that the military is at "significant risk" of being unable to prevail against enemies abroad in the manner that Pentagon war plans mandate.
Myers' conclusions were couched in highly diplomatic language. But they represented the most candid acknowledgment thus far by a senior Pentagon official that the U.S. involvement in Iraq -- which has cost far more in lives and money and taken much longer than predicted -- has led to a reassessment of what the U.S. military can and cannot do abroad.
And it comes against a background of rising tensions with Iran and North Korea over the advances both countries have made in developing nuclear weapons, as well as continuing evidence that insurgents remain capable of inflicting bloody losses on coalition troops and Iraqi security forces.
Pentagon officials stressed that the bottom line of the risk assessment, which the military sends to Congress each year, is that the United States still would be able to win any war the president asked the Pentagon to fight -- although it might take longer and require more troops and other resources than the Pentagon's various contingency plans have called for.
"The assessment is that we would succeed, but there would be higher casualties and more collateral damage," said one senior defense official. "We would have to win uglier."
Military and civilian officials briefed reporters on condition of anonymity because they were discussing details about a classified document.
Though it recognizes the strains on manpower, equipment and other capabilities that have been visible during the struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan, Myers' report to Congress does not conclude that the military is at a greater risk of being unable to carry out its missions to protect U.S. soil.
