Iraq: Go Deep or Get Out

Readers of Foreign Affairs will know that Stephen Biddle has been of the absolute best commentators on Iraq. Here he makes the argument why the "middle ground" approach advocated by the ISG, certain Democrats and certain Republicans doesn't make any sense from either a military standpoint or trying to affect a salutary outcome in the country. The heandline, however, is a bit misleading in that the time has long since passed when we could really "go deep" in Iraq. In fact, I've argued (as have many others) that the "surge" isn't nearly big enough and that we simply lack the wherewithal to mount one that would due to the fact that the Army and Marines are simply too small insofar as the number of active-duty soldiers is concerned without putting undue burdens on both them and the Guard and Reserves.