604

Ok, so I wasn't a math whiz in school. But I know the difference between addition and subtraction.

So with reports like this warning that America's troop strength is stretched dangerously thin, you would expect the administration to take steps to add more troops.

But instead, the administration wants to reduce troop strength:

Under the plan, the authorized troop strength of the Army Reserve would drop from 205,000 - the current number of slots it is allowed - to 188,000, the number of soldiers it had at the end of 2005...

Army leaders have already said they are taking a similar approach to shrinking the National Guard, which the Army is proposing to cut from its authorized level of 350,000 soldiers to 333,000, the number now on National Guard rolls.

The reductions are part of "a broader plan to achieve a new balance of troop strength and combat power among the active Army, the National Guard and reserves to fight the global war on terrorism and to defend the homeland."

What in hell does that mean? The article provides no details. But at the very least, the reductions are going to take some of the security out of "homeland security."