On the one hand, the increase of our troop levels, in the short term, is going to put additional strain on the Army and the Marine Corps force structure; in the mid-term, particularly, it is going to place a hardship on the rotational cycles of units, possibly even further down the line.
Discussing the impact of troop level increases on military forces.
Share & report
More from John McCain
it seems to me that, again, from my glancing visit through that country last month, there is a lack of confidence among the other sects--other than the Shia--within this country, of the desire of the government to actually address issues in the entire country.
You are fairly familiar with the Iraqi leadership. You have known these individuals. Based on your experience with them, how effective do you think threats of withdrawal of U.S. troops are in achieving real progress in Iraq?
I believe it is abundantly clear that we are at a point in Iraq where we are going to have to succeed within in the coming months or we are going to have to experience catastrophic consequences associated with it.
Are we at that number, that 1 to 50 ratio? Are we there? Will we be there with the surge?
Other voices in this conversation
