[SoCal Pubbie]

I still don't see the relevance of the number of troops in the invasion to today's situation. It's clear that no more were needed to dispose Saddam. It appears to me that decisions made AFTER the fall of the regime have contributed to the difficulties.

In as much as Syria's and Iran's strategy has always been to create just enough havoc to bloody the nightly news, and having MORE troops stationed in hostile war zones would have increased the cost, increased the number of Cindy Sheehans, and potentially increased the number of US casualties, I think it's a pointless exercise in finger pointing.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

It appears to me that decisions made AFTER the fall of the regime have contributed to the difficulties.

Well, since you put it out there, i'll bite.
If you ALREADY had the forces in place for the OCCUPATION, then maybe things would have went along better. Trying to come up with an extra 150K while things are going to hell is not very popular. But if they are already there, nobody cares. Who knows, and your are right. At this time, it may be irrelevant because America ain't gonna buy sending 150K more troops NOW because we have already bled out 3,000 (about 4-5 days of fighting at the height of WWII). In any event, any more talk of "leaving with honor" is going to boil my blood. Why don't Cheney "leave with honor" since we are mulling this around, he could resign and allow Bush a new perspective. Him and Tenet could write their book together.