Army Warns Rumsfeld It’s Billions Short

The Army’s top officer withheld a required 2008 budget plan from Pentagon leaders last month after protesting to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that the service could not maintain its current level of activity in Iraq plus its other global commitments without billions in additional funding.

Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern of taking a half as…er…baked approach to the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. The problems with the “Mr. Nice Guy” rules of engagement along with this sort of semi-committment to getting the Army the resources it needs is indicative that some, at least, haven’t faced up to the fact that yes, indeed, we really ARE at war, and that yes, Army expenses ARE higher during a war! What a shocker!

The decision by Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army’s chief of staff, is believed to be unprecedented and signals a widespread belief within the Army that in the absence of significant troop withdrawals from Iraq, funding assumptions must be completely reworked, say current and former Pentagon officials.

Hopefully Gen. Schoomaker can wield the cluebat vigorously enough to make the needed impression!