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Often secondary in discussions of the Iraq war is a the highly dangerous risk position in which the Administration and its supporters have cornered our national security, particularly the readiness of our military. It has been stretched dangerously thin by the intensity of its missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the repeated and extended rotations placed on our troops.

A recent survey of 3,400 military officers finds high morale but deep concern that it would be unreasonable to ask our military to fight another major war today. Asked to rate the health of our military today on a scale of 1 (no concern) to 10 (grave concern), the officers rated the combined forces at a worrisome 6.6, with the Army (7.9) and Marines (7.0) at alarming levels of risk.

Amongst many money quotes:

These officers see a military apparatus severely strained by the grinding demands of war. Sixty percent say the U.S. military is weaker today than it was five years ago. Asked why, more than half cite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the pace of troop deployments those conflicts require. More than half the officers say the military is weaker than it was either 10 or 15 years ago. But asked whether “the demands of the war in Iraq have broken the U.S. military,” 56 percent of the officers say they disagree. That is not to say, however, that they are without concern. Nearly 90 percent say that they believe the demands of the war in Iraq have “stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin.”

Twice in 2007, the Senate had the opportunity to ease this dangerous weakening of our military readiness. Twice it was presented with an amendment by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) to bring our troop deployments back into minimum rotations. Twice that amendment was fought by the Bush Administration as an impediment to the “surge.” Twice there were a majority of votes in the Senate to pass the Webb Amendment. Twice a filibuster, requiring 60 votes to cloture, was used by Republicans to block a vote. Twice Senator Chambliss voted the Bush position and against allowing a vote on the amendment. Twice the Senate was denied the opportunity to vote on the amendment to protect our troops and our military readiness.

By early 2008, in concert with the latest report on the “surge,” and expressing the concern of military leaders for the readiness of our troops, the Bush Adminstration announced that it was working toward reducing the rotation cycles of troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There has been, and will likely continue to be, a great deal of talk about the “military tradition in Georgia.” Any such conversation must include the greatest military tradition of all: “We take care of our own.”

Senator Chambliss must answer for this.