US forces overstretched, says Kerry

Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry says the Bush administration has stretched the US military too thin, complicating the mission to create a stable Iraq.

Kerry said the United States was in danger of returning to the low point of the Vietnam War in the late 1970s by creating “another hollow army”, with too few ready to fight.

“Despite all its talk of transforming our military, the Bush administration has done far too little to adapt our forces to the new missions they have to undertake,” Kerry said in remarks prepared for a speech at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri.

“We went into Iraq with too few troops to prevent looting and crime, and we failed to secure nearly a million tons of conventional weapons now being used against our troops,” Kerry said.

“We failed to build alliances and squandered the opportunity to generate wider support inside Iraq, in the Arab world, and among the major powers.

"These mistakes have complicated our mission and complicated our objective – a stable Iraq with a representative government secure in its borders.”

Kerry said the Bush administration had extended tours of duty, delayed retirements and prevented enlisted personnel from leaving the service - essentially increasing troop force “on the backs of the men and women who’ve already fulfilled their obligation to the armed forces and to our country”.

“It runs counter to the traditions of an all-volunteer military,” Kerry said.