The number of soldiers in the U.S. Army, both active and reserve, will continue to be a critical determinant of America's ability to win future wars and, above all, the peaces that follow them. The current force is far too small.
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The most basic function of any government is to provide security to its people. That the Iraqi government is currently failing at this task in large areas of the country reduces the Iraqi population's willingness and ability to support the counterinsurgency effort, undermines the government's legitimacy, hinders the political process, and derails recon-struction. It is the single most serious problem in Iraq today. Yet coalition forces have not stepped in to fill the security gap.
America has an obligation to remain in Iraq until it has helped establish a peaceful, stable democracy there. The rest of the civilized world, espe-cially the Muslim world, has a vital interest in supporting this endeavor. The wise consideration of the US military presence in Iraq can only take place on the basis of these two facts. Such a consideration reveals the extreme dangers that will result from a premature withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and from the establishment of any artificial time-line for such a withdrawal.
