"We are at a higher risk state" Posted by Max Bergmann

There has been a big push recently to demonstrate the costs of Iraq on our economy and on our national security. These arguments have focused on the diversion of about a trillion dollars to the Iraq war and the fact that Iraq has been a distraction from other more immediate national security concerns like Afghanistan. These are all good points, but surprisingly lost in this discussion is perhaps the most significant of Iraq: it is driving our military into the ground leaving us unable to respond to other crises. From the IHT:

The war in Iraq is depriving Keating and other commanders of their ability to respond to a military crisis, draining away thousands of personnel and critical equipment, as well as hamstringing their ability to conduct exercises and forge alliances with foreign nations that one day could prove instrumental, according to interviews with senior military leaders and specialists.

"The readiness of our forces is affected by combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq," Keating said in an interview last week in his office, where photos of World War II's storied commanders like Admiral Chester Nimitz hang on the walls. "We are at a higher risk state."