Skelton: "It's Troop Readiness, Stupid"

Last Monday, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) was the featured speaker for the Holden Public Policy Forum’s first visit to Kansas City.  Congressman Skelton, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, discussed military issues in Iraq and Afghanistan.  As Missourians well know, Skelton has made the defense of our country and the welfare of our soldiers the hallmark of his congressional career.  We are fortunate that he has finally taken the helm of the Armed Services Committee after 27 years as a member.  Unfortunately, the Bush Administration doesn’t appear to be listening. 

In his speech, Skelton expressed great concern that our military forces' readiness have been substantially diminished under the foreign policy fiascos of the Bush Administration.­

­"Why should any of us worry about a military readiness crisis?  The lack of readiness of our Army forces that are not currently deployed is of great concern because we depend on those forces to be able to answer the nation’s call in the event of some unforeseen future conflict.  Make no mistake, the American military remains a formidable force, even when stretched.  But the way things are now, it would be difficult for those forces to respond in a timely manner.  Readiness is our insurance policy for national security. ...

"Clearly, the most urgent
national security issue facing the United States today is the
tremendous burden that the war in Iraq is currently placing on our
military, in particular the Army and Marine Corps.  We must ask whether
our significant commitment
of forces in Iraq serves our broader national security interests.  In
my estimation, the answer is no.  We are not properly prepared to
respond to numerous and readily conceivable security challenges outside
of the Middle East.  We are taking on a significant
level of strategic risk, and it will be years before this problem can
be fully solved.”

Skelton also reminded the administration that its mistakes in Iraq have left Afghanistan on the brink of collapse. 

"The war in Afghanistan has been and remains a war of necessity.  We were attacked on September 11, 2001, from a safe haven in Afghanistan.  Our armed forces and their Afghan allies quickly eliminated that safe haven.  This year, however, the consensus of the intelligence community is that Al Qaeda has reestablished a safe haven in Pakistan’s border region, and Al Qaeda fighters in league with leftover forces from the Taliban regime are increasingly infiltrating into Afghanistan.
 
"I am concerned that we are slowly ceding the initiative in Afghanistan to the Taliban, to drug lords, and to other forces of disorder, which threatens the truly impressive successes achieved in Afghanistan since 2001.”

The entire text of Chairman Skelton's speech to the Holden Public Policy Forum appears below.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Remarks of Congressman Ike Skelton (D MO)
The Holden Public Policy Forum – Harry S. Truman Library
November 12, 2007

Governor Holden, thank you so much for inviting me to join you today.  I’m pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this program, and it is always a thrill to be at the Truman Library.

As you know, today is the federal holiday in honor of Veterans Day, which was known as Armistice Day in recognition of the end of World War I, the war in which Harry Truman served as a soldier.  Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to recognize and to thank America’s nearly 24 million veterans, as well as for the 1.3 million men and women who serve in the active duty military and the 1.1 million who serve in the National Guard and Reserves, for their service to this country.

America is built upon the achievements and the sacrifices of veterans during the various conflicts in our nation’s history.  Most especially at this time, our thoughts and prayers are with those who today serve at the tip of the spear in the current war in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe, and in the Iraq War and the ongoing insurgency.

I’ve had the privilege to visit our troops in the field, and let me say this: the veterans of tomorrow who are actively engaged in combat in Afghanistan, Iraq and in other places around the world are making us just as proud as our veterans who wore the American uniform in yesteryear.  They are members of the most powerful military force that the world has ever known.  But repeated deployments are putting them under enormous strain.  We can never take their sacrifices for granted.  That goes for the sacrifices of their families as well.

There are tremendous challenges that confront our country at this moment in history.  I have to tell you, as I consider the number of serious security challenges on our plate, I am quite worried about the state of the world today.

I believe we are in the midst of unprecedented uncertainties and instability in the world, with unforeseen dangers hanging over us like a Damocles sword.  The future is always unpredictable.  Who could have foreseen the Korean War, or the collapse of the Soviet Union, or the innumerable crises we faced during the Cold War?

A case in point:  In 1914, no one could have predicted that a single tragic event – the assassination of an Austrian Archduke in the capital of a little known province in the Balkans – would set off a chain of events that sparked a world war, resulting in 20 million deaths and 20 million more casualties.  And while that conflict was known as “The War to End All Wars”, in less than 20 years the world’s major powers were at war again – in Europe, in Africa, and in the Pacific.  I’m convinced that today we are living in the most uncertain and dangerous times we have faced since September 2, 1945 – the end of World War II.  We are living in a tinderbox.   

In every corner of the globe, we face potential flashpoints.  Global trends that may create conditions resulting in instability include disproportionate population growth, disease, water scarcity, financial instability, failed states, declining food production, and soil erosion, to name a few.  The threats are most apparent in the Middle East – the insurgency in Iraq, Iran and its nuclear ambitions, the Israel-Palestine conflict, Turkey and its problems with the Kurds.  But we also have the ongoing war against radical Islamist terrorists in Afghanistan, the deeply troubling state of emergency in Pakistan, unrest in Burma, and decades of tension on the Korean peninsula.  Not to mention the expansion of the influence of China, with its economic and military interests throughout the world, and the recent inflammatory rhetoric coming from Russia.

Of course, this is not a complete list.  Pick virtually any spot in the world – conditions exist in which a conflict could ignite the whole region in war.

Conflicts can and will pop up anywhere in the world.  In the 30 years I have had the honor to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, the United States has been involved in 12 conflicts – some large, some small – and has responded to numerous other crises and natural disasters around the world. Frequently such events have come without warning.  That is why the readiness of our military – that is, the preparedness to successfully respond to any threat – is so important.  But with the demands on our forces today, our readiness has definitely declined.

Mark Twain is often quoted as saying, “History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme a lot.”  To my great disappointment, I sense some rhyming going on when I look at the current state of the U.S. Army and compare it to the state of the Army in 1980 when I first joined the House Armed Services Committee.

Today’s Army soldiers – both officers and enlisted – are absolutely first rate professionals.  However, this is an Army that is stressed and strained and experiencing readiness shortfalls among the non-deployed forces.  Back in 1980, then-Army Chief of Staff General “Shy” Meyer described a “hollow Army”, with our forces under strength and potentially facing great difficulty if called to respond during a crisis.

I worry that today’s lack of readiness is similar to what the U.S. Army experienced in 1980.  I’m especially struck by some of the Army’s recent testimony that mirrors General Meyer’s assessment a generation ago.

General Meyer described a “hollow Army”, with tactical forces under strength and companies and platoons that had been zeroed out.  In January of this year, then-Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker testified that he had continued concerns about the non-deployed force and continued concerns about the strategic depth of our readiness.  When questioned more recently in September, the new Army Chief of Staff, General George Casey, expressed that he is not comfortable with the ability of our forces to respond as rapidly as we would like and called for an effort to sustain, prepare, reset, and transform the Army.

Why should any of us worry about a military readiness crisis?  The lack of readiness of our Army forces that are not currently deployed is of great concern because we depend on those forces to be able to answer the nation’s call in the event of some unforeseen future conflict.  Make no mistake, the American military remains a formidable force, even when stretched.  But the way things are now, it would be difficult for those forces to respond in a timely manner.  Readiness is our insurance policy for national security.  In this year’s defense authorization bill, Congress is taking steps to restore military readiness, but we can’t fix these problems overnight.  It is likely to take a commitment of several years to repair the damage that has been done, but for the good of the nation, it is essential for Congress and the Administration to work together to rebuild and restore Army readiness.

Clearly, the most urgent national security issue facing the United States today is the tremendous burden that the war in Iraq is currently placing on our military, in particular the Army and Marine Corps.  We must ask whether our significant commitment of forces in Iraq serves our broader national security interests.  In my estimation, the answer is no.  We are not properly prepared to respond to numerous and readily conceivable security challenges outside of the Middle East.  We are taking on a significant level of strategic risk, and it will be years before this problem can be fully solved.

Regardless of how one views the facts on the ground in Iraq -- and intelligent and knowledgeable observers, dedicated patriots all, differ widely -- one cannot view the events there outside of this larger context.  U.S. national security is the primary and overriding interest governing the use of our armed forces.

I do, in fact, have severe doubts about the wisdom of our current course in Iraq.  I am not convinced that our military efforts will ever bring significant levels of stability to Iraq without Iraqi political progress towards reconciliation.  Al Qaeda terrorists, which were not present in Iraq before the war, are a limited and shrinking presence there now.  These are the factors which have led me to advocate a responsible redeployment from Iraq beginning this year.

But rather than dwell on Iraq, I want to speak about a different war – the forgotten war in Afghanistan.  The war in Afghanistan has been and remains a war of necessity.  We were attacked on September 11, 2001, from a safe haven in Afghanistan.  Our armed forces and their Afghan allies quickly eliminated that safe haven.  This year, however, the consensus of the intelligence community is that Al Qaeda has reestablished a safe haven in Pakistan’s border region, and Al Qaeda fighters in league with leftover forces from the Taliban regime are increasingly infiltrating into Afghanistan.

I am concerned that we are slowly ceding the initiative in Afghanistan to the Taliban, to drug lords, and to other forces of disorder, which threatens the truly impressive successes achieved in Afghanistan since 2001.

After the previous Taliban government fled, Afghans established a legitimate, democratic government in its place.  Afghanistan has enjoyed considerable international support including a substantial NATO force, the International Security Assistance Force or ISAF.  Afghanistan is not characterized by the same level of bitter sectarian rivalries that currently plague Iraq.  And most critically, the Afghan people have welcomed the international security presence and international assistance they’ve received, and continue to believe in the legitimacy of the Karzai government.  Although it remains under serious challenge, we have achieved a large measure of success in Afghanistan.

One of the major problems is there simply are not enough security forces on the ground in Afghanistan to bring order to that vast land.  Afghanistan has a population of nearly 32 million, larger than that of Iraq.  It is roughly the size of Texas, and much of its terrain is rugged.  And it has been torn apart by war for nearly 30 years.  The ISAF is assisting the Afghan government on security and stability with about 35,000 troops, backed by another several thousand U.S. forces which operate outside the ISAF structure.

I believe that we must reinforce success in Afghanistan by sending some portion of the forces being withdrawn from Iraq to Afghanistan, and by working with our NATO allies to increase the number of forces and the types of missions taken on by their forces in the country.  Of course, in order to lower our strategic risk and begin to address readiness overall, we must still reduce our troops’ overall deployment rates, even as we increase forces in Afghanistan.

Higher troop levels, combined with a comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan, will go a long way toward helping Afghanistan become a stable, peaceful, and successful member of the world community.  This will require a significant investment of the national power of our NATO allies and the United States.  Yet I am a firm believer in first things first.  The United States must refocus attention on the forgotten war in Afghanistan.  Thus, we must devote the forces and the resources to that campaign to eliminate the terrorist threat from that area, and never again divert our focus unless absolutely necessary for the safety of the United States.

Our nation is blessed with so many advantages.  That this nation has endured for over 200 years can be attributed to the commitment and dedication of generations of Americans who wore the uniform of our country, preserving our freedoms for their children, and grandchildren, and all those yet to come.

I remember when I was 9 years old and in the 5th grade at Central School in Lexington.  My father, a Navy veteran of what was then known as the World War, was the best known orator in Lafayette County.  He was asked to speak at the Armistice Day program at the nearby Odessa High School.  By pre arrangement with my teacher, he took me from school and we drove to Odessa – the date was November 11, 1941.
                                           
In my mind’s eye, I can still see the military pageant the students performed, wearing Army uniforms of the 1918 era, with a bass drum simulating artillery fire.  And then my father spoke.  He spoke about America and our freedoms.  I well recall he told that student audience that there were those in the audience who may have to fight to defend our freedom once again.

As we know, less than a month later, on December 7, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and four days later Hitler declared war on the United States.  From the Odessa High School class that graduated in May 1942, 2 of those young men were killed in action in Europe 2 years later.

I also remember my father reciting to those students the poem that came out of the First World War, "In Flanders Fields":

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead.  Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
        In Flanders fields.

It is our duty, our obligation, and our privilege to remember our veterans not only on Veterans Day, but every day.  We honor them best by living up to the standard of service that they set, by taking up the torch they carried, and doing our part to protect America today and for all the generations to come.  I know in my heart that as Americans, we have the strength to face today’s challenges, fulfill our duty, and do what is necessary to preserve this great country of ours.  God bless.