This is a transcript of a Lou Dobbs report on how we are facing a serious problem of an overstretched military. We might not be able to stop our enemies. The root of the problem is a war in Iraq that is bleeding America dry:
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the end of the NATO summit in Bucharest, President Bush committed a new round of U.S. troops to the war in Afghanistan. According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Mr. Bush told other heads of state that in 2009, the United States would make a significant, additional contribution of forces to fight the Taliban. U.S. commanders want another 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, so why not send them now to join the 31,000 U.S. troops already there -- the answer, Iraq.
ADMIRAL MIKE MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: There are force requirements there that we can't currently meet, so having forces in Iraq don't -- at the level they're at don't allow us to fill the need that we have in Afghanistan.
STARR: Finding enough troops for Afghanistan and Iraq is proving to be increasingly difficult. A new classified national intelligence estimate on Iraq, which Congress requested before General David Petraeus testifies next Tuesday is now on Capitol Hill. It reportedly says the surge is working, but analysts say the recent fighting in Basra may have changed everything.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: I would say that any report done before Basra is already obsolete, at least to an extent. And so in that regard it's not going to be a definitive word anyway.
STARR: The latest fighting in Basra could temper Petraeus' view that the surge has worked. The U.S. now has more than 500 troops in the south helping Iraqi security forces, but U.S. officials note 1,000 Iraqi troops deserted their post during the fighting.
In September the first post surge brigade is due to come home. Petraeus has to decide within the next several weeks if he still wants replacement troops or if he is going to begin a new draw down.
(END VIDEOTAPE) STARR: The need for more troops in Afghanistan is going to put pressure on the administration to begin a further troop draw down in Iraq because after all, Kitty, there really are only so many boots you can put on the ground in either country.
PILGRIM: Well that's exactly right, Barbara, so where in the world is the Pentagon going to find all these extra troops to fight in Afghanistan next year?
STARR: That's going to be a fairly significant problem for a couple of reasons. First, when troops come home from Iraq, the Pentagon has made an absolute pledge to give them at least 12 months with their families to rest and recuperate before they go off to a war zone again. So that's going to put some pressure on it.
Iraq is not exactly getting better anytime soon as we've seen with the fighting in Basra. And finally what Admiral Mullen said was absolutely vital. Look at it this way. They need the troops in Afghanistan now; they're not sending them until next year because they don't have them to send.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much, Barbara Starr. Thanks Barbara.
A B-1 bomber supporting U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan today caught fire today in Qatar. The bomber caught fire after it landed at a U.S. air base. Now all the airmen onboard escaped without injury. Meanwhile, an airman has been killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad. The airman is the first U.S. fatality in Iraq this month. Thirty-eight of our troops were killed in Iraq last month; 4,013 of our troops have been killed since this war began; 29,628 troops wounded; 13,264 seriously.
Voters are very pessimistic about the direction this country is taking. A "New York Times"/CBS poll says 81 percent of voters believe this nation is on the wrong track. One major reason is the economic downturn. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll says 42 percent of voters believe the economy is the number one issue. That's double the number of voters who think the war in Iraq is the top issue.
New evidence today of the magnitude of the economic crisis facing this nation, employers slashed 80,000 jobs last month. That's the most in five years. The unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent. That's the highest level in nearly three years.
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