From The General(s) To The Particular

The two articles from the Associated Press appeared one beneath the other in my local newspaper, just as I post them here.

From the AP via MSNBC:

In the confidential confines of a Pentagon conference room known as "the Tank," President Bush moved one step closer to temporarily halting U.S. troop cuts in Iraq.

No decisions were announced at the closed-door session Wednesday, but officials said later that the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps indicated they would go along with a halt.

The chiefs stressed, however, their concerns about the accumulating strains caused by an Iraq war that is now in its sixth year and that has forced the Army and Marine Corps in particular to keep troops in combat longer and on more frequent tours than officials believe can be sustained in the long term.
....

The chiefs' concern is that U.S. forces are being worn thin, compromising the Pentagon's ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.

From the AP via USA Today:

FORT STEWART, Ga. — Army Staff Sgt. Robert Brown's third deployment Iraq was also his longest -- he was 39 when he left, and he turned 41 the day before he returned to Fort Stewart on Wednesday.

His wife, Taura Brown, and 4-year-old son Jacob had a cake waiting for him at home that said, "Happy Birthday and Welcome Home."

Brown was part of the first Army division tapped for a third combat tour in Iraq. He was among 500 soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade returning Wednesday from a 15-month deployment to Iraq. The rest of the brigade of 4,000 troops will return in the next two weeks.

"The only thing I want to do is just go home and be around nobody but them," said Brown, of Chatham, La., as he pulled off his helmet and flashed a wide smile at his wife and child.
....

At least 75 soldiers from the 19,000-soldier division died during the latest deployment, the military said.

The division helped lead the charge to Baghdad in the 2003 invasion, and returned to Iraq in 2005.

During their third deployment, division soldiers had their tour stretched to 15 months -- compared with the typical 12 month rotation -- as the Pentagon boosted troop levels in Iraq to crack down on violence from insurgents.

"It seemed like forever," said Spc. Bradley Glasscock, 33, of Wilmington, Ind. "We were already three months into the deployment when they told us we'd get an extra three months. So it seemed like we stopped and started over again. We were just biting at the bit to get home."

I was going to comment, but res ipsa loquitor.