This is not good.

To no one's (excpet, of course, Don Rumsfeld's) surprise, deployments in Iraq have stretched the army's numbers dangerously thin, and weakened recruiting efforts. Some disheartening quotes from the report's author:

"You really begin to wonder just how much stress and strain there is on the Army, how much longer it can continue."

"He wrote that the Army is "in a race against time" to adjust to the demands of war "or risk `breaking' the force in the form of a catastrophic decline" in recruitment and re-enlistment."

And, from four star General Joulwan (to CNN):

"Whether they're broken or not, I think I would say if we don't change the way we're doing business, they're in danger of being fractured and broken, and I would agree with that."

We're in a tough spot, indeed. The work our troops are doing in Iraq today is vital. Sadly, it was not adequately planned for by the Bush administration.