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Britain's Armed Forces 'stretched beyond their capabilities' by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent Last Updated: 10:12PM BST 24/06/2008 Britain's Armed Forces cannot go on running two major military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the head of the Armed Forces has admitted. There are 4,000 British troops in Iraq and numbers in Afghanistan will soon exceed 8,000 The two wars have left the Forces "stretched beyond the capabilities we have," Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said. It is the first time the most senior officer in the British military has expressed such grave doubts about...

TOKYO, March 21, 2007 – The U.S. military is stretched, but it is able to do all missions the country asks of it, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ceremonially reviews Japanese soldiers while visiting the Japanese Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, March 21. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Marine Gen. Peter Pace said during a news roundtable with Japanese reporters that actions in Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the U.S. military, but there...

Top U.S. General Says Army 'Stretched' By NICK WADHAMS ASSOCIATED PRESS DIWANIYAH, Iraq (AP) - The top U.S. general in Iraq acknowledged Thursday that American forces in this country are "stretched," but he said he will only recommend withdrawals based on operational needs. Gen. George Casey told reporters he had discussed the issue with Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker on Wednesday and that the Army chief of staff believes he can still sustain the mission in Iraq. "The forces are stretched ... and I don't think there's any question of that," Casey said. "But the Army has been for the last...

Armed Forces stretched beyond limit By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 15/06/2005) A damning report on the Armed Forces' ability to go on operations has concluded that more than a third of the military are experiencing serious weaknesses. The National Audit Office says today that there is a potential crisis facing the military with so many troops deployed in operations overseas and a possible brigade-size operation in Afghanistan next year. The Government's commitments abroad have used up a vast amount of equipment and led to serious curtailment of training, the Whitehall spending watchdog says. Under the Ministry of Defence traffic...

California should have enough power to get through this summer without blackouts -- as long as nothing goes wrong. Keepers of the state's power grid say supplies are stretched so thinly that a widespread heat wave or wildfire could mean homeowners and businesses may once again wait their turn for the lights to go out. Rolling blackouts -- planned power outages that are "rolled" from area to area to protect the power grid when electricity supplies are critically low -- became part of Californians' life during the state's power crisis four years ago. Explosive growth in areas far from cooling...

As potentially embarrassing statements from Arnold Schwarzenegger's past have come to light, his campaign has developed an unusual standard defense: He made it up. Confronted with Schwarzenegger's own words on drug use, his early business practices, women and his immigration status, campaign aides — and the candidate himself — have disavowed many of the comments he has made during the last 30 years. In doing so, they have said that Schwarzenegger either exaggerated or erred in dozens of interviews he gave to promote his career and even in his 1977 autobiography.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - Salary increases and unexpected expenses absorbed money the Internal Revenue Service had planned to use to track down tax evaders, government investigators said Tuesday.</p> <p>The General Accounting Office reported that even with budget increases and internal goals making compliance a top priority, the money devoted to collecting unpaid taxes declined from 2000 through 2002.</p>