Few Troops Available for Darfur, U.S. Senator (R Ind) Says

[Nambe]

LONDON (Reuters)

The international community would have few troops to spare for any military intervention in Sudan's Darfur region if this were to become necessary, a senior U.S. Republican senator said on Friday.

Richard Lugar, chairman of the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters on a visit to London that many standing armies were already overstretched.

"Secretary (of State Colin) Powell ... indicated we've not ruled out any options including military force, but I would just simply say as a practical matter ... that (in) most countries, no one seems to be available," he said. ..

.. The U.N. estimates that the fighting has killed at least 30,000 people and made some 1.5 million more homeless. ..

Ride Don’t Drive It’s Global Cool

[truthspeaker]

1. I wonder where all those troops are?

[lebkuchen]

2. A lot of them are not re-upping

More disturbing, recruiters say, is they're re-enlisting only 46 percent of the quota for "mid-career" noncommissioned officers. These are the young sergeants with four to 10 years of experience who are the backbone of the Army - its skilled soldiers, mentors and future senior NCOs.

http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/america_at_war/article/0,1299,DRMN_2116_2961385,00.html