Gotta make the numbers

Mark Benjamin has a number of articles in Salon about what appears a deliberate attempt by the military to inflate the number of deployable troops. The latest speaks of injured soldiers being sent to Fort Irwin as a prelude to being shipped out.

Yes, it's natural to assume that a few soldiers would say almost anything to avoid going to war, but it seems that Benjamin has sufficient facts to back up his claim. Some assertions he backs up

soldiers who had been recommended for medical retirement were sent to the training camp
the injured soldiers did not train; they just lived in a big tent
some of the injured were, in fact, sent to Iraq (although the Army says they'll be put in safe non-combat jobs.

It just doesn't sound good.