Well It Would Appear that General Shinseki Was Correct…

Over two-years ago Paul Wolfowitz disparaged Shinseki’s assessment of the number of troops needed to secure postwar Iraq. Since that time the administration has always answered, “I would send them if the commanders requested them,” when ask if we needed more troops.

Time magazine yesterday reported that Virginia's John Warner, joined by Democratic Senators Carl Levin of Michigan and Mark Dayton of Minnesota, sat across the table from 10 military officers chosen for their experience on the battlefield rather than in the political arena. The commanders were asked if they had the correct number of troops to win the war and they answered NO

The commanders stated that the most they could do was leap-frog across the country trying to keep areas clear of insurgents that filtered back in after they left. Folks that is another similarity to Vietnam, clear an area, leave, the area is once again occupied and you are ordered back to the same area to clear it again.

Because Bush, Cheney and Rumesfeld would not put in the correct number of troops we are now forced to endure a handful of casualties a day in a war of attrition.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1132819,00.html

See my post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5407235

comprehensive list

it reminds me of the same frustration the Brits had trying to control the "insurgents" here.

"My name is Shinseki, and I am a soldier--an American soldier...

"...You must love those you lead before you can be an effective leader. You can certainly command without that sense of commitment, but you cannot lead without it; and without leadership, command is a hollow experience--a vacuum often filled with mistrust and arrogance."
:patriot:

link

"Beware the 12-division strategy for a 10-division Army. Our Soldiers and families bear the risk and the hardship of carrying a mission load that exceeds what force capabilities we can sustain, so we must alleviate risk and hardship by our willingness to resource the mission requirement. (my emphasis) And we must remember that decisive victory often has less to do with the plan than it does with years invested in the training of Soldiers and the growing of leaders. Our Nation has seen war too many times to believe that victory on the battlefield is due primarily to the brilliance of a plan - - as opposed to leadership, tactical and technical proficiency, sheer grit and determination of the men and women who do the fighting and the bleeding."

"... you must despise those of a lesser class before you can be an ineffective leader. You cannot govern without a certain sense of entitlement and arrogance."

a man by the enemies he makes" - nothing speaks more to Bush and Cheney's failures as people and leaders.

Cherry picked (falsified) intelligence to dupe the citizens into voting for war. And then sending our children to war with out proper defense. and they are still in command of our children's lives. TREASON!

probably about 240-260K troops. Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld undoubtedly knew this as well as the reality that 250K troops would require conscription.

Unwilling to invest the political capital to make a draft happen, we went to war with not enough personnel. We still haven't got them.

The bottom line is simple--don't start projects you can't afford to finish.

It is time to declare that we have met our objective (getting Saddam out) and get the hell outta Dodge.