[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Nobody seems to give a crap about actual victory. Even the pols who said there weren't enough troops to do it correctly, never demanded more troops.

Exactly how much authority do you believe Congress has once they give the President the opportunity to start a war? They can, in theory, cut off funding and stop a war, but they cannot force the deployment of more troops. Certainly the Democrats, as a minority party, could not effect any change. The only chance would have been if a significant number of Republicans would add their voice, and noone was sure that this was the wrong decision since the 'professionals' seemed to go along with it.

In the end, the buck stops at the Joint Chiefs and the Commander-in-Chief. If they plan badly, or worse, allow a good plan to be compromised, then everyone suffers. In the Army's case, the troop total was reduced at the insistence of the White House, who thought they could occupy on the cheap. Almost every single one of their predictions was wrong, including the restoration of an oil economy to pay for the reconstruction.

Now we all pay.