From Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – The armed forces, stretched by deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, are suffering shortfalls in personnel that could jeopardise their operating capability, a parliamentary committee said on Tuesday.

More staff are leaving the armed forces early, partly due to the pressures of long tours of duty overseas. Recruitment is not keeping pace, leading to a shortfall of almost 6,000 personnel or 3.2 percent in April 2007, said parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

The Liberal Democrats, who were against the Iraq war, said the report showed personnel faced an “intolerable burden” and called for a timetable on withdrawal from Iraq.

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