Mound City

Military preparedness. Despite pre-war assurances, it seems as though the U.S. military is overstretched, and overtired. Recent criticism is based not on a moral stance for or agains the war, but is from reasonable questions as to whether the military was even capable of a sustained presence in Iraq. The president took the military into a war in which it could certainly defeat the opposing forces militarily, but was questionably capable of the long-term rebuilding, advising and security aspects that were inevitably necessary.
Apparently four divisions, nearly half the U.S. military's strength, is at the lowest readiness level as they work to repair equipment and rest the men.
For an administration who lives on holding rallys at military bases, they certainly ask for a great deal of the young men and women who fight for this country and who constantly find themselves to sacrifice more and more. Reinlistment is down although no one is talking about it. The men and women in the military, particularly in the reserves (which makes up nearly half of the force in Iraq), are making their decision. Staying in doesn't seem to be the popular option.
Over at Tapped, The American Prospect's blog, Nick Confessore wrote a good piece addressing just this issue.
(Confessore has also been writing some great pieces over at The Washington Monthly.)