Not Enough Troops

A while ago people were criticizing Donald Rumsfeld for not sending enough troops to Iraq. At the time we were near Baghdad but our supply lines were stretched so thin that the troops furthest into Iraq weren’t getting enough food. The supply lines were also perceived as being vulnerable to attacks.

Then, of course, we marched into Baghdad with little resistance and quickly toppled Saddam’s regime. People said that the plan was fine all along and those of us who criticized it should eat our words. They said there were enough troops.

They were wrong.

We are inadequately prepared to deal with all of the looting that has happened. We have encouraged looting in Saddam’s palaces and Baath offices, but it has spread to hospitals, banks, stores, necessary municipal services, libraries and museums. It has quickly been followed by arson and vandalism. One can assume rape, murder and assault are also prevalent.

While the soldiers aren’t trained to be policemen especially in a foreign country, they do have the power to seriously reduce the looting and violence simply by their armed presence. That is if there are enough troops. Troops can also secure the area and allow badly needed humanitarian aid to enter.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden has an excellent post on this subject that goes into much more detail.