If this wasn’t published directly on the Pentagon’s website, I’d swear it was some kind of parody, meant to make the Bush administration look foolish.

Extended overseas deployments affecting soldiers serving in Afghanistan and other locales overseen by U.S. Central Command should help to alleviate the stress on the Army, a senior U.S. officer in Afghanistan told Pentagon reporters today.

“I’m absolutely confident that that’s going to work and that’ll manage the pressure and the stress on the force,” Army Col. Martin Schweitzer, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, said during a satellite-carried news conference. […]

The tour extensions will provide more predictability and stability for soldiers and their families, [Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno] said, noting the policy “will ensure 12 months at home station between rotations.”

As Noah Shachtman, who has a great post on this, put it, “This is entering into ‘Baghdad Bob’ territory, folks. Seriously.”