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tions to recruit, and we are providing an environment in which the newly recruited terrorists can get the best of training - at the expense of our forces which are too few to do their job.
Two years have passed and it is now mid-October 2006. What has changed? Unfortunately, the answer is “too little,” other than the number of casualties and the amount spent. The reality:
1. U.S. military - about 2,750 deaths and 20,650 wounded in action in Iraq; U.S. expenditures - well in excess of $300 billion.
2. We still have woefully too few troops in Iraq to be able to conduct an effective counterinsurgency while providing an acceptable level of security for the general populace.
3. Because of the demands of Iraq, we have too few troops to commit to Afghanistan to stem the resurgence of Taliban popular support and military operations.
4. Only a small percentage of Americans are being asked to sacrifice in the war effort. The brunt of the war is still being borne by too few.
5. We are still deficitfinancing it all.
We are told that our objective in Iraq is to create a pluralistic democracy built on freedom. By doing so, we will strike a severe blow against terrorism and religious extremism. If we are truly at war and if we truly want to win (i.e., to accomplish our objective), then we must (a) expand the military by taking measures to substantially increase recruitment (which will probably require conscription), (b) significantly expand specialized military training in urban warfare and counterinsurgency operations, with intensive instruction in the history, politics, cultures, religions and languages of Southwest Asia, (c) significantly increase in Iraq and Afghanistan the number of
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