Left I on the News

Not that such considerations would ever conceivably lead me to support an invasion of Iraq, or oppose an immediate and complete withdrawal, but it turns out there is a silver lining in the (very dark) cloud that is Iraq:

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are making such heavy use of the nation's Green Berets and other elite warriors that they cannot fulfill their roles in other parts of the world, the military's top commando told The Associated Press on Monday.

And where might those "other parts of the world" be? Here's one:

Olson said that when the 7th Special Forces Group, which is based at Fort Bragg, N.C., and whose normal area of focus is Latin America, rotates into Afghanistan for seven-month tours, it takes two of its three battalions, leaving just one in Latin America.

"That leaves us underrepresented" in Latin America, the admiral said.

Yeah, hard luck, pal.

If you're thinking that these "special forces" are so "elite" that there's just a handful of them running around the world, like James Bond, think again:

There are now about 50,000 people in special operations forces.

That, needless to say, does not include the CIA agents who are running around the world engaged in similar "mischief."

And if John McCain is still looking for ways to cut government spending, instead of going after the measly $1 million for the Woodstock Museum, how about saving 7,000 times more money:

Olson's command has seen its budget jump from $2.3 billion in 2001 to $7.3 billion this year.