So if Rumsfield would have begun expanding the military within the few months prior to 911, the US would have about 180,000 troops in Iraq now ? How would having an extra 30 to 40 thousand troops in Iraq prevent terrorist attacks ? Heck we cannot even protect US citizens from terrorist attacks with the hundreds of thousands of military and police we have in this country right now. Any domestic terrorist can walk into a mall right now and blowup a few hundred people. The US election is over. The 'Iraq is a mistake' crowd lost the popular vote. Bush is trying to do something that is extremely difficult. Bring peace and democracy to Mesopatamia. If he can pull this off, the nobel peace prize would be beneath him.
I think Rumsfield is proving to be much like Robt. S. McNamara in his taking the business model approach to the military. Unfortunately a war machine isn't a business it is a war machine that requires a tremedous amount of redundancy to meet its unforseen needs. The amounts of monies needed to support our military are staggering but pale in comparison to the damage that could be inflicted upon us by a successful military attack on the United States.
I don't think we need more personnal in Iraqi but I do believe we need a much larger military. In my opinion the only way to achieve the numbers we need is universal military service.
To take gound and hold it the only option is boots on the ground. Advanced technical weapons can do a great deal of damage but they can't root determined fighters out of the rubble. That job falls to the man and the rifle. Let's get our military back to at least eight hundred thousand active duty men and women.
It's the Congress folks - what holds the purse strings....
Iraq is more of a Guerrilla war now, more troops would most likely get in the way.....rotation is for Peace Time - this is War Time - seasoned troops are what we need, not green soldiers. WWII saw soldiers in the theater for as long as four years....Only Andrew Sullivan and John Kerry think four months is enough time to spend fighting a war...........