Quote Originally Posted by FascistLibertarian View Post
What you do with them and what they are trained for are just as important.
Having talked to some people who were in the 1st US wave I think there was a huge gulf between what they were trained to do and what they were asked to do.

See Gunner Palace for more examples of what I mean........
I quite agree that the utilization of troops is also a critical factor. The lack of planning for the post combat phase in Iraq was inexcusable. Certainly there have been many lessons learned since 2003. Plus the change in SecDef and top DoD leadership and specifically putting Gen. Petraeus in charge gives me hope of having a real chance in Iraq.