Why has Bush NOT given the military the personnel they've needed to try and win the "peace" in Iraq?

Question

We hear it over and over....The Bush administration claims that if their generals ask for more men to do X Y or Z, they'd get them, absolutely. We hear over and over from people who were there, or who participated in other military campaigns, that more personnel, sometimes different types of personnel, were and are needed for various tasks in the post-invasion Iraq operation.
Is it all Rumsfeld's failed less-is-more idea?
Is it internal rangling?
What is it? Why, for instance, does this story link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061013/wl_mideast_afp/usiraqunrestpolice_061013002233;_ylt=Aod4GKMYtmNAmIkvwBVXtS4UewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--
tell of how we *never* had the right police training staff in place, and how we *never* established basic security and any semblance of the rule of law in Iraq? (Recall, btw, how down in N'Orleans not even food for the starving could be flown in until 'the rule of law' was first established)
How did we get so screwed?

Please note, for instance, this excerpt from that link:

He blamed much of the current bloodshed on the US government's "failure to recognize the importance of security in the immediate post-conflict environment, in particular our failure to support the rule of law."

An army veteran with more than 25 years' experience in law enforcement, Burke was one of six specialists sent to Iraq in May 2003 by the US Department of Justice to conduct an assessment of the Iraqi criminal justice system. His team recommended that 6,000 civilian police trainers and advisors be sent to Iraq but the administration determined that only 1,500 were needed.

It was six months before any advisors arrived and there were only 24 of them, he told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing. Funding was not made available to train Iraqi police forces until eight months after the war began even as insurgents attacked embassies, the Red Cross and the United Nations.

Answer 1

Huge, complex government. It is easier for them to give money to others. To get money to our own people it has to pass through several hands before it is given to the people and by then a significant percent of the money is gone, and yes, we are getting screwed.

Answer 2

There are problems with the idea that more troops would have solved the problem. More troops would have presented the enemy with more target and in return the military would have killed more of the enemy. Now lets say you double the troops which doubles the death toll on both sides. Not only that, you would have to more than double the cost of the fighting in Iraq.

Not only that, but the peace still might not have been won. Something like over 10 million Germans were killed before they surrendered. A much higher number might be needed to pacify Iraq. I doubt anybody would stand for that. Winning the hearts and minds is not the issue when they first believe that they will go to Heaven by dieing in combat and second they are pumped up on drugs like heroin before they go into battle.

The Iraqis are going to have to face theri own problems with their cut and run soldiers and police force and neighbor on neighbor violence.

Answer 3

We don't have the personnel to give the generals - we had to call out our own National Guard to augment the regular army, and the NG, the Reserves, and the Regular Army are being "rotated," that is, going in, coming home, going back in. Enlistment is so down they had to lower standards.

Add to that the general incompetence of the Rumsfeld crowd in planning and in assessing what would be needed and sending too little to begin with, and the situation is now what it is.

We don't have enough men and materiel to be effective against what we created there - a workshop for terrorists and a fertile field of civil strife, with no security and no trust or respect.

Answer 4

Maybe you should ask him yourself in a nice letter, and if your letter will be chosen in his tons of mail, perhaps he will answer it himself.
You should ask him about his little secrets inside the White House that the public doesn’t know or wants to listen.
You should ask him why he went to power to finish his father job, and till today, hasn’t been able to accomplish that task.
The military personal is there, even if it wasn’t there, the UN has a lot of Countries that they can send military personal into Iraq. But then the Bush started something with the American tax payers, and now he’s trying to cover it up with all kinds of excuses when he should be investing the billions in places such as New Orleans, etc.
Ask him why he was able to capture Sadam Hussein in such a few days, and unable to catch Ben Laden after so many years. Ask him why the White House knew what ben laden was about to do while he was in the US, and they never did anything about him!
One of the answers is black gold, now figure the rest.

Answer 5

We can't "Win the Peace" until there is one, is it somehow escaping everyone's notice that there are still people engaged in organized guerrilla activity throughout Iraq? The purpose of the military is destroy the enemies capacity to wage war, we not only haven't done that, we don't even seem to making any actual effort to do that. In WW2 we didn't try rebuilding Germany and Japan until after we had crushed, occupied, and pacified them. They wanted our help, they had no choice. Iraq is in no way in a comparable situation, many, if not most, of the people just want the violence to stop so they can rebuild and get on with their lives, and they increasingly see us a hindrance and not a help. The opposition portray us as foreign invaders out to destroy their faith and culture and seize their oil fields, and what are doing, by actions not rhetoric, to show different? We won in WW2, in Korea we got a draw, in Nam the enemy simply waited us out. They didn't need to defeat us militarily, they just had to prolong the pain until the public outcry made staying there political suicide. If our leadership has forgotten that, as I believe they have, don't for a minute think the Iraqis have. Why do you think we still have troops in Germany. Japan, and Korea, and none in Viet Nam? As to how we got so screwed, simple, we re-elected Bush.

Answer 6

Bush and his cronies thought this would be a cake walk. They underestimated everything, the number of troops needed, the will of the Iraq people, the resolve of the terrorist, how much money it would cost, the length of the war, the only thing they did not underestimate is the thought that they knew everything.

Answer 7

My husband has spent two years out of three in Iraq, we are a volunteer army so unitl our numbers increase we will never have enough personel to do what we need to do. we need to keep just in Iraq 30,000-35,000 at all times. Not counting Korea, Afghanistan, Germany and everywhere else. If we were to get the people we needed we would need to resort to a draft.

Answer 8

enlistment rates are higher and continue to grow. men & women are re-upping instead of getting out. the people are sent them when needed.

get over it about katirna -- there are rules and had bush just jumped in and took over people would have screamed about that too. the mayor didn't do his job, the govenor didn't do her job or anyone else int he state. gov bush of florida tried to help and tell them to callf ort he stte of emergency PRIOT to the horrible happenings -- get over it -- it was their own governments fault they faild to "sound the alarm".

by the way -- florida had hunderds of first responders that were ready and waiting just outside the linesw and could not "invade" another state until that states government requested -- this IS still America. food and supplies were ready and waiting also - however they had to be welcomed in - this is NOT a dictator ship and thus -- people have to ask for help. had they evacuated when they realized what was heading their way it would have beenmuch different.
not sure where you live but me - i'm in hurricane country and you're always ready to fly if the need be. i may have had to scrimp but i didn't have gold jewrley, fancy clothes or even cable until i had enough money saved to be able to split if that was the case.

Answer 9

OBVIOUSLY you have not learned anything from your MANDATORY High School courses in US History and US Government --

BECAUSE ...

IF you did pay attention in the class, you would already know that the President has NOTHING to do with the Authorized/Approved Defense -- it is something that CONGRESS does annually in the Budget Process.

Answer 10

I think this is due to Rumsfeld's wanting to invade and occupy on the cheap.