Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey Jr., who is scheduled to testify today before the House Armed Services Committee, intends to move as quickly as possible to grant soldiers more relief from the war zone, having argued that the troop rotations of 15 months in combat and 12 months at home -- required by the buildup of U.S. forces in Iraq and the conflict in Afghanistan -- are "not sustainable" for the Army.

It’s interesting that GEN Casey is actually endorsing the Webb Amendment, which was recently spurned by the Republicans in Congress, who consider themselves “Very Serious People” when it comes to caring for the troops. It’s also interesting that GEN Casey disagrees with Senator Mel Martinez, one my two shames in the Senate. GEN Casey doesn’t think some decent time at home between endless deployment to Mr Bu$h’s ego-war “demeans” them.

Casey and other members of the Joint Chiefs have made no secret of their concerns about the stress imposed by the troop buildup. "Now we're 15 out, 12 back. And that's not sustainable," Casey said at a forum earlier this month. "I do not want to go beyond 15 months on the ground for the soldiers, and I want to get to more than a year at home as rapidly as we can," he said. Asked whether he thought the troop increase was working, Casey, who until this spring served as the top U.S. commander in Iraq, replied: "It remains to be seen."

House Democrats are expected to press the two leaders on the Army's declining readiness.

Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Tex.), chairman of the readiness subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, said Army generals have told him privately that the Army cannot maintain its current pace of war-zone rotations. "They are saying it's almost to the breaking point, we can't continue on this path," he said in an interview.

It has been obvious for at least two years that the Iraq conquest has turned into a catastrophic blunder. Many people say that it is the worst military and foreign policy disaster that has ever befallen the United States.