Tim Walz: “the war in Iraq has now gone on for more than 5 years. Those 5 years have seriously hampered our military's readiness…”

“the war in Iraq has now gone on for more than 5 years. Those 5 years have seriously hampered our military's readiness, and the human and financial costs grow greater by the day. Eighty-eight percent of our current and former military officers believe this war has stretched our military dangerously thin, and 60 percent say it has left us weaker than at any time since Vietnam. Pete Geren, the Secretary of the Army, said, ``We are consuming our readiness as fast as we build it,'' and the Army Chief of Staff, General George Casey, said, ``The last six-plus years at war have left our Army out of balance, consumed by the current fight, and unable to do the things we know we need to do to prepare for the future.'' In addition to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on this war, the cost to care for our veterans and rebuild this Army will take us decades. While our military is standing up and facing these challenges with great dignity and professionalism, there are some here who say we need to stay the course and stay in Iraq for 100 years. This is not sustainable. This is not a plan. This is not security. We need real leadership that understands the cost of staying in Iraq and not redeploying our troops is making America less secure and not more.”