There are 40,000 Police to keep the peace in NYC

[berni_mccoy]

We are trying to keep the peace in SEVERAL CITIES IN A LARGE COUNTRY with less than FOUR TIMES that.

If Bush really wants to secure the peace in Iraq, he needs to FOLLOW GENERAL SHINSHEKI'S ORIGINAL PLAN, which was to use 500,000 troops IN COOPERATION WITH THE IRAQI ARMY after the war to secure Iraq.

You can't do it with a force with a size of just FOUR NYC POLICE DEPARTMENTS.

[TomInTib]

1. And the citizenry isn't openly attacking the NYPD

Hopeless

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Shinsheki was part of the old school of US military. He believed

that if you invaded a country you had better be prepared to subdue the population with overwhelming force. Unfortunately this invasion was "planned" by a few intellectuals who mostly got in charge because of cronyism.

[berni_mccoy]

3. Calling these criminals "intellectuals" is giving them way too much credit.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. At best , people like Wolfowitz & Perle were considered intellectuals

without any exposure to the military, at the time. Those two, along with Rumsfeld apparently called the all the shots. A war crimes trial is probably needed to sort these guys out.

[sandnsea]

4. Rumsfeld told Franks 'smaller'

The operations part of this nightmare lies squarely on the shoulders of those two. It's all in Woodward's book that came out a few years ago. They needed a small force so they could sneak them into Kuwait while telling the American people they weren't planning war, they just needed American unity in front of the UN.

[tularetom]

5. I think it's too late for Shinseki's plan

this whole thing is probably the greatest fuckup in the history of American foreign policy. There is simply no good solution. We are all collectively to blame for letting this idiot start something we knew he couldn't finish and I especially blame the Dems who voted for the original Iraq resolution. Shit, even a dummy like me knew it was all bullshit. WTF is wrong with our supposedly wise and informed legislators?

Let's review our alternatives:

1. Stay the course - even * admits it's a failed strategy.
2. Leave now - fucked Iraq for all time. $10 per gallon gas after Iran takes control.
3. "Surge" - see "Stay the course". Same shit, differrent name.
4. Shinseki plan - even 500,000 not enough now. Besides where would they come from?
5. Bomb Iran - World War III.

The only thing common to all these alternatives is the total loss of respect for America among the global community. And the end of the myth of American omnipotence.

Good job, asshole.

[jobendorfer]

7. By way of comparison

When Germany surrendered in May 1945, the United States had forty-three -- yes, forty-three! -- divisions of troops in Germany. The British had fifteen divisions there. That's a total of fifty-eight divisions to occupy a hostile power ... and that doesn't even count what the Soviets brought to the party, which was probably larger than the combined Anglo-American force.

So here's Bush, trying to occupy a Iraq with a force that is roughly 1/15th of what the Allies deployed to defeat and (at least initially) occupy Germany.

And we're surprised it doesn't work?

J.

[snot]

8. Great way to illumine the problem; source:

Authority always helps; found this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Police_Department :

"NYPD members are frequently referred to by the nickname New York's Finest. The NYPD is headquartered at One Police Plaza, located on Park Row across the street from City Hall.
The size of the force has fluctuated, depending on crime rates, politics, and available funding. The overall trend, however, shows that the number of sworn officers is decreasing. In June 2004, there were about 40,000 sworn officers plus several thousand support staff; In June 2005, that number dropped to 35,000. The NYPD's current authorized uniformed strength is 37,038, which is scheduled to increase to 37,838 in January 2007 (<1>)."

[HuffleClaw]

9. i think what is coming is an open campaign of brutality

that will of course be blamed on the iraqis themselves.