It sure looks that way. It needs to be done < before > Bush leaves office because the next prez might be a RAT, and you know they will never do it.
Still need another 6 to 8 Active Army combat brigades and another 3 to 4 Active Marine combat brigades just to ease the rotation in Iraq. If we are seriously looking to build up for another front or to take on Iran ... we need about another 12 Active Army combat brigades and 6 to 8 Active Marine Brigades.
Not to mention staffing and fully provisioning the existing Reserve and NG Units as well.
Do we need them to fight a war without boots on the ground? I think we can deliver whatever we need from the air, but I'm no military man so I don't really know.
There is an old Infantry saying. The only ground you “control” is the ground you are standing on.
There are several rules of thumb used to calculate the number of forces required. Typically, in an attack mode, you want to have 3 to 4 times the number of forces as the defender has but with modern combined assault ... perhaps that is more like 2.5 to 3.
To PATROL an area, you need about 5 times the number of opposing forces. Understand that increasing lethality does not help this number.
To OCCUPY an area, you need about 8 to 10 times the number of opposing forces.
To PACIFY an area, you need to have between 10 and 15 times the number of opposing forces.
Granted, for these numbers you can count any friendly police forces as well, but it is still a large personnel operation.
Boots on the ground are no longer the primary attack force but they still remain the number one post combat force requires .... and there is no substitution.
It will be hilarious if Hilary gets elected next November. Then George Bush wacks the Iranian nuclear programs before she gets inaugurated in 2009. Letting her deal with the aftermath