MILITARY
A 'Hollow Announcement'

While much attention was focused on the Iraq hearings with Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker yesterday, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) also held an important, less-publicized hearing about the current strain on the military forces. "That marathon has become an enduring relay and our soldiers continue to run -- and at the double time," Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody said, referring in part to the consequences of the administration's decision last year to extend tours of duty in Iraq to 15 months to supply troops for the surge. In response to "intense pressure from service commanders," President Bush will announce this morning that he is cutting Army combat tours in Iraq from 15 months to 12 months. Despite previously stating he is "keenly aware" of the stress on the forces, Petraeus claimed yesterday that "after several years of a generalization of morale as going down, morale actually went up." This assessment, however, glosses over the harsh reality facing our troops.

BACK TO LAST WINTER: The administration's plan does not appear to go far enough, as it "will not apply to any soldiers now serving in Iraq, Afghanistan or other war zones" and therefore only affect troops sent to Iraq as of Aug. 1. This move means that those already deployed must complete 15-month tours. Bobby Muller of Veterans for America said that nearly "half of the Army's active-duty frontline units are currently deployed for 15 months, and that Bush's decision leaves them out." "In short, this is a hollow announcement; it has no immediate effect," he said. "[I]t only resets us to where we were last winter," added Skelton. "This pace will still wear our troops out." The administration's plan will also give troops equal rest time at home as deployed. But the White House had this option on the table in 2007, and has stubbornly opposed it. It went on a full-scale assault against Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) "dwell time" bill last year, pressuring Sen. John Warner (R-VA), who introduced a toothless "sense of the Senate" resolution to effectively kill Webb's "will of the Senate" legislation. In fact, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates even recommended that Bush veto Webb's "dwell time" proposal, should it ever pass Congress.

MILITARY UPRISING: Bush's decision to cut tour lengths comes after months and months of warnings from his top military advisers. "The current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply," Army Chief of Staff George Casey said back in September. This week, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen noted he was "very public for many months that we need to get off 15 month deployments as fast as we can." In a recent meeting in the Pentagon, top military leaders "told President Bush they are worried about the Iraq war's mounting strain on troops and their families." While a step forward in the right direction, Bush's announcement today is more likely forced due to necessity, Ilan Goldenberg of the National Security Network observed. "The military is so strained, the president really didn't have a choice," he said. As Colin Powell presciently observed in July 2007, "[T]hey probably can't keep this up at this level past the middle of next year, I would guess. This is a tremendous burden on our troops."

STRAIN BY THE NUMBERS: As a result of the administration's delay in coming off "the longest Army combat tours since World War II," soldiers now are more strained than ever. "Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress," according to an Army survey of mental health. Twenty-seven percent of noncommissioned officers on their third or fourth tour exhibit post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The study noted that "soldiers on multiple deployments report low morale, more mental health problems and more stress-related work problems." Today, one in five troops returns from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder. In fact, there were 121 Army suicides in 2007, up more than 20 percent over 2006. An estimated 2,100 troops tried to commit suicide or injure themselves last year -- up from 350 in 2002. Family life is also affected by the war, as 20 percent of married troops in Iraq say they are planning a divorce.

Under the Radar

HEALTH CARE -- ELIZABETH EDWARDS JOINS CAPAF AS HEALTH BLOGGER: On Tuesday, the Center for American Progress announced that Elizabeth Edwards was joining the organization as a Senior Fellow. She will also write on health care for the Center for American Progress Action Fund's Wonk Room blog. She said health care "is a pretty important issue, and I don't want to put down the sword until we get the job done." Edwards has pointed out that the health care plan proposed by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) would leave both him and Edwards herself "outside the clinic doors" because their preexisting condition -- cancer -- would preclude them from accessing most insurance plans. Last night on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Edwards said there was "a gulf...a solar system of difference" between McCain's health care plan and progressive proposals. "What worries her, she said earlier, is that all the plans rely on a 'smorgasbord of savings,' but those can't really be realized unless hospitals are able to stop shifting costs that mount up, for example, as they try to counter caring for the uninsured."

TORTURE -- BUSH'S 'PRINCIPAL' ADVISERS APPROVED TORTURE: ABC News reported last night that President Bush's most senior and trusted advisers met in "dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House" beginning in 2002 to approve the use of "combined" interrogation techniques." These "top-secret" meetings were chaired by then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and included Vice President Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, George Tenet, and John Ashcroft. The tactics the group approved included how detainees "would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding." Former Justice Department official John Yoo wrote an infamous torture memo that signed off on these measures as long as they did not lead to "organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or death." ABC News did note, however, that both Powell and Ashcroft were troubled by the meetings and how these decisions would affect the image of the United States, but that Rice was not swayed by their concerns. Ashcroft reportedly said, "History will not judge this kindly."

IRAQ -- MALIKI TELLS BUSH HE DISAGREES WITH PETRAEUS'S WITHDRAWAL PAUSE: Testifying to lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general of Multi-National Force in Iraq, recommended that this July, the United States "pause" the draw down of U.S. troops in Iraq for at least 45 days to assess the security situation there. President Bush has now reportedly accepted that recommendation. However, the Associated Press reports today that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "disagreed with Petraeus' proposal" to delay U.S. troop withdrawals, "citing the growing capabilities of Iraq's own security forces." According to a "senior government adviser," Maliki "told [President] Bush during a 20-minute telephone conversation" yesterday "that Iraqi security forces are capable of carrying out their duties and U.S. troops should be pulled out as the situation permits." Indeed, Bush has previously indicated his enthusiasm for Maliki's leadership and trust in his judgement saying he had seen "the strength of his character," that Maliki is a "strong leader," and a "good guy" with "deep determination." Just last year, Bush said that U.S. troops are in Iraq "at the invitation of the Iraqi government," adding, "If they were to say, leave, we would leave."

Think Fast

A new Pew Research Center poll finds that the majority of the American public believes that in the past five years, "they either haven't moved forward in life (25%) or have fallen backwards (31%). This is the most downbeat short-term assessment of personal progress in nearly half a century of polling" by the organization.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is expected to announce today that conservatives will drop their push to pass an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in order to shift their focus to the economy. This strategy was detailed in the inaugural edition of the "Freedom File" e-mail -- "a monthly memo to GOP activists -- from Boehner's political action committee, Freedom Project."

Tribunals for six detainees at Guantanamo Bay charged with war crimes related to the Sept. 11 attacks have "hit a snag" as military defense lawyers are "in short supply." In the two months since the charges were announced, "not one of the six detainees has met his military lawyer." Now, "a growing consensus among lawyers" believes that few of the detainees' "cases are likely to actually come to trial before the end of the Bush administration."

"Dozens of Afghan men who were previously held by the United States at Bagram Air Base and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, are now being tried here in secretive Afghan criminal proceedings based mainly on allegations forwarded by the American military." Human rights investigators report that the trials can last anywhere from 10 minutes to a couple of hours and can result in prison sentences of up to 20 years.

Testifying to the House yesterday, Amb. Ryan Crocker said "his embassy was still preparing a report that would measure progress toward the 18 benchmarks that Congress set last year to help assess progress on the ground" in Iraq. However, a "senior administration official" said "the administration had abandoned the benchmarks as a strict standard of progress because establishing a secure Iraq would also depend on factors other than political and military progress."

"[B]y hedging on whether he will support" the 21st Century GI Bill, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) "is casting doubt on his own commitment to the newest generation of American heroes," write Gen. Wesley Clark and Jon Soltz, chair of VoteVets.org, in an LA Times op-ed today. "[J]ust because our service members are selfless does not mean they deserve to be left to fend for themselves as they return home and try to make a better life."

"Americans are cutting back on driving as they feel the pinch from high oil prices and a soft economy," and demand for gas "has trailed year-earlier levels over the past 12 weeks, the longest period of sustained lower demand since 1991." But with oil finishing at $110.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday "after the federal government reported a sharp drop in crude inventories," the price of gasoline is still continuing to rise.

The Senate is debating a rule pertaining to children's health insurance that states that lower-income children should get coverage before those in families that earn more. "This change could force states to drop tens of thousands of children from the program in August."

And finally: Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ), and Barack Obama (D-IL) all "made taped appeals for charity on a special edition of 'American Idol' on Wednesday night." Their spots, however, were cut because producers "evidently felt that the candidates didn't have the same cachet" as celebrities. However, the event -- which "went too long" -- did feature Fergie, Bono, Brad Pitt, Mariah Carey, and Miley Cyrus. The candidates' taped appearances are expected to air tonight.

Good News

"President Bush yesterday reached across traditional political dividing lines to sign into law a broad program that provides federal grants for assistance to ex-convicts, pointing to his own struggle with alcohol addiction as an example of redemption."

State Watch

ILLINOIS: Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) becomes the third governor to sign the National Popular Vote bill, advocating "that the President of the U.S. will be determined by the total national popular vote."

VIRGINIA: Gov. Tim Kaine (D) signs "more than two dozen bills that effectively revamp how the state identifies, monitors, treats and adjudicates the mentally ill."

HEALTH CARE: "State budget pressures are hampering the federal government's push to stockpile enough antiviral drugs to treat 25% of the U.S. population in a flu pandemic."

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Former House speaker Newt Gingrich alleges "stunning bias" in the news coverage of violence in Basra, Iraq.

WONK ROOM: Student outs "faith-based" climate denier textbook.

TALKING POINTS MEMO: David Horowitz is bringing Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week back early this year.

WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT: Rep. John McHugh (R-NY), Gen. David Petraeus, and Amb. Ryan Crocker conflate al Qaeda and al Qaeda in Iraq.

Daily Grill

"Our military will stay as long as the stability of Iraq requires, and only as long as their presence is needed and requested by the Iraqi government."
-- President Bush, 6/28/04

VERSUS

"The [Iraqi] prime minister told Bush during a 20-minute telephone conversation on Wednesday that Iraqi security forces are capable of carrying out their duties and U.S. troops should be pulled out as the situation permits."
-- AP, 4/10/08

Internships

The research team that brings you The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org needs summer interns! Click here for more information.