A SOBERING VIEW OF POSTWAR IRAQ

A good opinion piece at the NY Post on the shortcomings of US Planning for postwar Iraq. And as much as I support the Administration, I gotta say I believe this is mostly on the money

During the war, we did not have enough troops to do everything that needed to be done, but the quality of our armed forces pulled off a brilliant campaign nonetheless. Now, a month after the fall of Baghdad, the most consistent complaint from our soldiers, our diplomats and even from Iraqis is that we don't have enough boots on the ground to do what must be done.

Secretary Rumsfeld consistently has sought to minimize the role of ground forces in order to justify cutting the Army and funneling the savings to defense contractors. Now he doesn't want to allow a victory parade in Manhattan that would add to the luster gained by the Army and Marines in the recent campaign - and he wants our troops to do the occupation of Iraq on the cheap.

Bad, bad idea.

In the strategic marketplace, you don't always get what you pay for, but you never get what you don't pay for.

See the whole thing here.