THIS NEWS FLASH FROM IRAQ: Combat has a negative effect on Army equipment readiness rates!

The shocking–if year-old–story in Monday’s Washington Post that readiness rates for U.S. Army tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, Black Hawk helicopters, and the notoriously finicky radars that allow precise and rapid counter-mortar fires appeared as the paper’s lead item. Not surprisingly, it also became the headline of the hour for John Kerry, who saw in it yet another instance of President Bush’s shortcomings as commander-in-chief. Never mind that much of the $87 billion supplemental budget for Iraq operations, which Kerry voted against, is devoted to purchasing spare parts.