ARMY TOO SMALL? SO IS THE CARRIER FLEET.

The United States might have scored an overwhelming victory in Iraq, but some people think it still needs more aircraft carriers.

Five of these massive cities on the waves were called to duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom — but that left only three others deployable elsewhere.

The worry is that as the sole remaining superpower, the United States might not have enough carriers if too many of the world's simmering hotspots boiled over.

Policymakers feared a conflict in North Korea could have erupted at the same time as the Iraq War, but crises surrounding Taiwan, Pakistan or Israel might have also called for an American presence. The United States military is increasingly being drawn into smaller conflicts as well, like the one currently unfolding in Liberia.

But John Birkler, a military analyst for Santa Monica think tank RAND, says the current United States carrier fleet may not be enough. There's a saying in the Navy, he said: "In national security matters having too much capability is a misdemeanor, but too little is a felony."...

The United States' involvement in global affairs is only one reason for the increased interest in carriers.

Several of America's most recent conflicts have taught Washington it may have problems projecting power in the future — in part, due to rising anti-American sentiment...

The United States used to have more than 100 land bases on foreign soil, Birkler said. "Now it's something like 20-plus and will probably continue to decline." Plus, he added, much of the areas where the United States is focusing now hardly have the infrastructure to support land-based aircraft.