Opinion (William Rusher): Time for more troops

Hitherto, I have refrained from wading into the argument over whether we need more troops in Iraq because I am not a military expert and felt obliged to defer to what President Bush has consistently said was the stated belief of the generals in charge that no more were needed. But the report of the Baker-Hamilton commission, and other reports yet to come from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Security Council and the State Department, are loosening up the thinking on this and related matters, and the generals (who can’t enjoy the present state of affairs in Iraq any more than the rest of us) may share the contagion.

In any event, it seems to me that the case for more troops is now just about overwhelming. Give Rumsfeld credit for wanting to wage the war with a relatively small force, and salute Gen. Tommy Franks for toppling Hussein with one. There is nothing wrong with frugality where soldiers’ lives are concerned, and Hussein’s government was overthrown with remarkably few American casualties. But what ensued was not peace, but 3-1/2 years of a very different kind of war, waged against us by insurgents who realize that they do not have to win, but merely keep killing a few American soldiers every week until the American public tires of the process and forces Washington to pull the plug.

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