To House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), restoring readiness is a somber, pre-eminent duty.
The Democratic presidential candidates have also sounded off on the theme.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) hit the issue hard a year ago in a sit-down session with the Center for American Progress. Even then, she was commenting on criticism from the 2000 presidential campaign from then-candidate and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who charged that her husband, President Bill Clinton, had diminished the readiness of the military.
“It wasn’t true when he said it, but it sure is true now. [Bush] has in a very deliberative way created conditions that are straining our military, underfunding it with respect to what actually gets to troops on the ground and what they get when they get home.”
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has touched on the issue as well. The foreign policy portion of his campaign website states, “As a result of a misguided war in Iraq, our forces are under pressure as never before,” then stresses his commitment to rebuilding the military.
With the economy and other issues burning the legislative oxygen on Capitol Hill, Iraq has been pushed to the back burner in recent weeks. But aides expect it to re-emerge later this month with the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and in early April, when the top commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, returns to Capitol Hill to testify about the war.
As Democrats prepare for that debate, the readiness issue has garnered renewed interest in the top ranks of Democratic leadership.
In the last few weeks, Pelosi has released three official statements designed to highlight the comments of generals who say the military is reaching a breaking point.
“Americans are rightly concerned about how much longer our nation must continue to sacrifice our security for the sake of an Iraqi government that is unwilling or unable to secure its own future,” Pelosi said late last month, responding to comments by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey that six years of war have left the Army “out of balance.”
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) compiled a list of examples of National Guard shortfalls in 16 states that hampered their ability to react to natural disasters or terrorist attacks.
Still, some Democrats worry that using readiness as an angle of attack on Iraq could inject partisanship into an issue where Republicans and Democrats, at least recently, have been trying to work together. Aides who’ve been trying to get Republicans to sign onto the Ortiz-Abercrombie legislation have reported reluctance among some GOP members. The possibility worries Skelton.
“This is a national problem, and Iraq is a major cause, but readiness is not a political football,” Skelton said.
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