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I am convinced that the entire issue for the Pentagon, and Rumsfeld personally, has always been casualites. Increasing troops will increase casualties, period. Fact. Maxim. At least in the short term.
I firmly believe that we needed more going in and need more now, but Bush, Rumsfeld and the Pentagon were convinced from the begining that they could not justify that to the public.
It is the truest maxim of Washington policymaking that most big mistakes can be traced back to a time when key decision makers underestimated the American public.
Rumsfeld underestimated the American public’s ability to withstand both casualties and a long war. Both of which we by and large have withstood and done so without a single member of the administration coming forth and saying “We are going to fight until we win. The country will have to sacrifice to make that happen.” – which is basically all that would have been necessary to have had 500K in country and five years of public support in the 60′s…