Strains on ground forces limit U.S. options in Iraq

0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2007

"Even the highest morale is eventually undermined by back-to-back deployments. ... Something has to give and it's giving. Resources are overstretched. Frustration is up, as families are separated and strained. Morale is down. Recruitment is more difficult. And many of our best people in the military are headed for civilian life."

A quote from a 2008 presidential contender, blasting President Bush for stretching the U.S. Army to the breaking point?

No, that's then-candidate George W. Bush in September 1999, criticizing Bill Clinton for overextending the military in deployments to places such as Bosnia and Kosovo.

Bush had a point then, but it's a much sharper one now. A president who came into office promising to rehabilitate the military has done...