Rumsfeld: "The more troops you have, the greater the risk that you will beseen as an occupier"

[sabra]

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/CalThomas/2006/12/11/donald_rumfeld_w_cal_thomas_transcript

Donald Rumfeld w/ Cal Thomas: Transcript
Monday, December 11, 2006

<snip>

There are two centers of gravity. One is in Iraq and the region; the otheris here. The more troops you have, the greater the risk that you will beseen as an occupier and that you will feed an insurgency. The more troopsyou have - particularly American troops, who are so darn good at what theydo, the more they will do things and the more dependent the Iraqis willbecome and the less independent they will become. If there's a ditch to bedug, an American does not want to sit down and teach an Iraqi how to dig theditch. He'll go dig the dad burn ditch. But that is not what the task is.The task is to get the Iraqis to dig the ditches.

...

Simultaneously, you have the problem here at home. The more troops you havethere, the more force protection you need, the more food you need, the morewater you need, the more convoys you need, the more airplanes you need, themore people get killed, the more targets there are. If part of the center ofgravity is back here in the United States and they constantly see moreAmericans getting killed, they ask, 'Where are the victories?' 'Where's theland warfare victory?' 'Where's the sea victory?' 'Where's the air victory?''Where's the body count?' 'How many of these people are we killing?' 'Howmany are we capturing?' 'How do we know if we're winning or losing?' Themore people you put in, the more you're going to get killed.

The argument has been unimpressive, not terribly thoughtful (or)multidimensional and a bit narrow in this regard. Do I know that the rightnumber is there? No. Do I think it is? Yes. Is there anyone who is smartenough to prove it is or isn't? No.

[Javaman]

1. So by that logic...

we are only occupying Iraq a little bit.

What a fucking war criminal stooge.

[ProfessorGAC]

Well, Fully Extend The Logic, And It's Right

If you're troop level is zero, you can't be an occupier!

I suppose if there are 4 troops, and they're not in uniform, and they're not carrying weapons, then they're tourists. Then you're not an occupier either.

So, i guess we should have sent 0 to 4 troops and then Rummy would have been completely correct!
The Professor

[Javaman]

4. Well said. LOL :) nt

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Darned Dupes!

.

[Jacobin]

2. Well, I guess up until now the Iraqi's haven't noticed they are being

occupied.

:eyes:

Why doesn't this useless tool just STFU

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. Yeah, it's a little late for that dim light to come on

But it doesn't matter - GWB ain't listening. He's got a plan, a tank of gas, a bottle of whiskey, and plenty of cigarettes. We're surgin', baby!