Re: My hero General Eric Shinseki is appointed Sec. of Veterans Affair
Not necessarily.
It is quite possible that using a bigger force in Iraq would've cost the lives of even more U.S. soldiers.
More soldiers mean more targets for insurgents and more soldiers dying in accidents that are inevitable in a war zone.
Seriously? The Iraq war has been almost universally acknowledged as being initiated without sufficient planning and with unrealistic assumptions on the size of forces that would be necessary. Gen. Shinseki, who actually had experience in low-intensity ops in the Balkans, cited a troop number that he believed would be necessary to maintain security in a "post-war" occupation. Secretary Rumsfeld, who is widely considered one of the worst defense secretaries ever and was later fired, scoffed at the general's numbers and marginalized him until the end of his term.
With more soldiers to maintain order in disputed areas, the insurgency would probably not have gotten as out of control as it did. Other Bush decisions, like disbanding the army, didn't help of course.
President Bush himself admitted that not enough troops were used in his "mistakes were made" speech in January 2007. Then came the Surge, and what was that? More troops!
Yet the Roosevelt Admin. repeatedly violated the law and lied to the American people about their actions leading up to the war.
The fact that the U.S.S. Reuben James sunk with all hands by a German submarine was in fact engaging in combat operations against the German sub BEFORE being attacked to cite but one example.
Reuben James was sunk on October 31. FDR had already announced to the country that US Navy vessels would take offensive action against u-boats (the "shoot on sight" policy) after USS
Greer was attacked on the Iceland supply route. (US forces occupied Iceland in July 1941, which was also announced publicly.)
"But let this warning be clear. From now on, if German or Italian vessels of war enter the waters, the protection of which is necessary for American defense, they do so at their own peril.
The orders which I have given as Commander in Chief of the United States Army and Navy are to carry out that policy -- at once."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Fireside Chat
Sept. 11, 1941
There were some things that had to be kept secret for military security, but the major steps along the way to war (the draft, the declaration of Unlimited National Emergency, Lend-Lease, the Atlantic Charter) were all announced openly.
--Justin