The Washington agencies of national security display a distressing detachment from the realities of the American situation in the Middle East. The Army, its Reserve, and the Marine Corps are overcommitted, with deteriorating morale. The volunteer military cannot find the recruits it needs. Conscription is politically unthinkable but could become the only alternative. In these circumstances, the Defense Department, which has been unable to supply body and vehicle armor in adequate quantities, is preoccupied with new nuclear weapons and space wars. It wants vast new expenditures on projects with no relevance to present realities -- new and 'more usable' nuclear weapons, including earth-penetrating 'bunker busters.' The need is highly debatable, and the political costs of developing new nuclear weapons enormous... (for publication 07/04/05)

http://www.amconmag.com/2005_07_04/article2.html

from The American Conservative, by William Pfaff


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp