In (probably less than) two years, it will be commonplace to hear Republicans accuse the Obama Administration of “breaking” the US military.  There will be howling and whining about Democrats not supporting the military Nine times out of ten, it will come loudest from the Congressman representing the district where the Admin has cancelled yet another ridiculous weapons system.  But this meme of Democratic neglect of the military will be constantly repeated, with little challenge from a press that doesn’t understand or care too much about the truth of it.  My advance response?  Is in this story:

A veteran who has been out of the military for 15 years and recently received his AARP card was stunned when he received notice he will be deployed to Iraq.  The last time Paul Bandel, 50, saw combat was in the early 1990s during the Gulf War.

Must have some super specialized skills for them to need to do this, right?  I mean, they wouldn’t just call up a 50 year old just for his warm body?

The last missile system the veteran was trained to operate is no longer used by the military.

That’s where we are, with the US military, at the end of eight years of Republican rule.  Dragging 50 year old men – who have already honorably served – out of their lives and sending them into a war that should never have been started.   And no, the war isn’t over:

Two US soldiers died on Wednesday from injuries sustained in attacks in Baghdad and executed president Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, the US military said.

[ . . . ]

The deaths take to 4,220 the number of US military personnel who have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, according to an AFP tally based on the independent website www.icasualties.org.

And that is the state of the US military, courtesy of Republican policies and politics.