Not if they don't prioritize the securing of those dumps over stuff like, say, securing the oil ministry.
But with more troops they can do both since it's not either/or. Plus the museums.
Not if they don't prioritize the securing of those dumps over stuff like, say, securing the oil ministry.
More troops would not change the disasters in diplomacy and administration post-invasion.
Agreed with both. Rumsfeld's plan to use the fewest number of troops possible proved to be a bust. However that was just one of the many strategic failures of the Iraq War. The US had no real post-invasion plan, didn't understand the situation on the ground (particularly in regards to the Shia-Sunni conflict and the need for Baath Party membership), had few Iraqi politicians on their side with credibility, and really gave up the nation building part of the mission.More troops would have probably been a prequisite for the successful execution of a more realistic occupation plan but by itself they would not have done the job remotely...
If the goal was to prevent Iraq from becoming a cornerstone of a potential regional group of countries that threatened US dominance and/or US allies in the region, then it was pretty successful at doing that. Iraq is unlikely to present such a threat at any time in the near future. So in that sense, the war was a US victory of a kind.
Well, that's sort of a 'giraffe repellent' kind of objective. By that I mean, not a lot of giraffes running wild in north America.
Iraq wasn't and wasn't likely to become a cornerstone of a regional group of countries that threatened US dominance or allies in the region. Basically, Iran hated Iraq. The Syrian Baathists loathed the Iraqi Baathists. Saudi Arabia was a hostile monarchy. Turkey cared nothing for Iraq. The Persian Gulf states were indifferent to hostile. That situation had been status quo for decades, even before the Gulf War, and was unlikely to change.
Iraq's Baathis regime as any kind of threat in the near or medium or even long term future was nonexistent.
In terms of ensuring the security of American interests, the war was actually counterproductive.