Steve Coll reports at the New Yorker on the parting shot by retiring Army Vice Chief of Staff, Gen. Richard A. Cody:
Last week, the General appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee and testified that this method of engineering has failed. âTodayâs Army is out of balance,â Cody said. He continued:
“The current demand for our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan exceeds the sustainable supply, and limits our ability to provide ready forces for other contingencies. . . . Soldiers, families, support systems and equipment are stretched and stressed. . . . Overall, our readiness is being consumed as fast as we build it. If unaddressed, this lack of balance poses a significant risk to the all-volunteer force and degrades the Armyâs ability to make a timely response to other contingencies.”
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In normal times, when an active four-star general implies in public that the Army is under such strain that it might flounder if an unexpected war broke out, or might require a draft to muster adequate troop levels, he could expect to provoke concern and comment from, say, the President of the United States. Some time ago, however, George W. Bush absolved himself of responsibility for his Iraq policy and its consequences by turning the war over to General David H. Petraeus â¦
