not so funny doing israel's dirty work

US forces 'stretched' to breaking point

US forces have been stretched to the breaking point as a result of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a top Pentagon official has testified before a congressional committee.

General Richard Cody told a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee that recent troop deployments have taken a toll on US readiness to deploy elsewhere, and even to replace troops currently deployed in combating US-led military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Are we stretched thin with our active and reserve component forces right now? Absolutely," General Cody told lawmakers at the hearing on US troop rotations.

"We just did the largest move of the Army since World War II, you can't move 8.5 divisions and 240,000 soldiers without stressing the force," he said adding the military officials "are concerned about it".

The Pentagon is attempting to meet swelling demands for troops in Iraq and elsewhere by reforming the army's divisions into more numerous, more independent and rapidly deployable combat brigade teams.

Military officials also have temporarily increased the size of the army by 30,000 during the transition, a move Gen Cody said was indispensable for waging the war on global terrorism.

"This is a different war, that's why it's so important that everyone understands, and that's why we asked for the 30,000, so we could build up," he said.

Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified that it will likely be years before the 35,000-strong Iraqi army currently being trained by US forces will be ready to take up the slack.

"The bottom line is that this will be done incrementally, and it will be done in locations around Iraq where transitions can occur and the Iraqi security forces can be successful," he said.

"If Afghanistan is any indication, it will be several years" before Iraqi forces are fully ready, said Lt Gen Schwartz, who testified that there are currently some 17,900 US troops in Afghanistan.

--AFP