JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: The retiring commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf is questioning the nation's military strength and readiness. CNN military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre is live now at the Pentagon -- Jamie.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Joie, if the United States had to launch Operation Desert Storm today, it would be a lot harder according to the four-star general who, until recently, was in charge of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf. In an interview on the eve of his retirement, Marine Corps General Tony Zinni tells CNN that as a war</s>GEN. ANTHONY ZINNI, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I believe the military is too small for the current kinds of commitments we have. Now, you need either to change the structure of the military and the size and the manning, or you need to change the strategy. I don't see the strategy changing significantly. We are the world's leader. We fill a void. There's no one out there that even comes close to filling the leadership role that we have and some of the moral responsibilities that we take on.</s>MCINTYRE: Specifically, Zinni says the Army, which cut from 12 divisions to 10 under the Clinton administration, needs to go back to 12 divisions or more. Zinni also found he couldn't keep an aircraft carrier on-station in the Persian Gulf 365 years days a year, as he wanted to. The Navy says it would have to go from 12 carriers to 15 to meet Zinni's standard. And Zinni says the U.S. military is too small today to easily carry out its bedrock strategy, to be able to win two major wars at nearly the same time. Zinni says the U.S. could still win two wars, but only at great risk, with higher casualties because of shortages of equipment and personnel -- Joie.</s>CHEN: Jamie McIntyre reporting to us live from the Pentagon.
Retiring Marine Corps General Says U.S. Military Cuts Have Gone Too Far