US to cut 40,000 soldiers from army

The US army is to cut 40,000 soldiers from its ranks over the next two years at home and abroad, a defense official said , in a move that will raise doubts about its ability to fight wars. Under the cost-cutting plan, the Army will be down to 450,000 soldiers at the end of the 2017 budget year, even though in 2013 it argued in budgetary documents that going below 450,000 troops might mean it could not win a war. By comparison, the army swelled to 570,000 men and women during the peak of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than a year after ISIS fighters overran much of Iraq and Syria, the United States and its allies are struggling to turn the tide against the extremists in an air campaign known as Operation Inherent Resolve.

The Pentagon last month said it was sending 450 additional US troops to act as advisers to help Iraqi forces seize back control of the western city of Ramadi from jihadist fighters.