Will sending in more troops to Iraq really help?

[Poiuyt]

I know that the generals and strategists said that we should have done this with overwhelming force to begin with. But this is beginning to sound a lot like the escalation of the Viet Nam War.

[Democracy Died 2004]

1. It should help the body count.

more targets for the insurgents.

[leftchick]

2. no....unless

you are an Iraqi looking for a target.

[Solly Mack]

3. Not really. The problem is being able to sustain

a certain number. Just to look at it from a purely strategic POV.

We are damaging our military at current levels. Attempts to increase those levels for any period of time will further erode our military.

Our military could not presently meet an actual threat due to it's misuse in the "war on terror."

But then I don't think Shrub and Rummy really gives a damn about how they are destroying the military. Deaths, both civilian and soldier alike, mean nothing to them.

[immoderate]

4. Just like it helped in Vietnam. Question is: Who does it help?

--IMM

[Strelnikov_]

5. Not Now, We Are Past The Tipping Point

If we would have put in the 400,000 to 500,000 Gen. Shinseki called for, there would have been a chance to secure a critical mass of arms and stabilize things long enough to let a new government structure take hold.

Now, I think most of the population just want us to leave, and any increase will just underscore the perception that we are occupiers. Also, at this point, anything less than 400,000 additional ground forces will probably just give the Muj more targets to choose from (I have seen pop/occupier ratios of 20:1 for stabilized countries, which would indicate an occupation force of 1 M+).

We had a window after the fall of the Hussein regime to stabilize the country and set up a new government, and I am afraid that that window has now closed.

[nickshepDEM]

6. This is getting out of control.

I cant believe no one as proposed cutting our loses and getting out right after the elctions in January.

[Strelnikov_]

7. Recent Articles Indicate That Many Reich Wing Power Brokers

are beginning to say the same thing.

These are more your paleo-con subspecies and not the newly evolved neo-con vectors who currently control the nest.

[leftofthedial]

8. it helps the bushgang's neocon agenda

it does not help the cause of peace or freedom