Letter to the Next President

Critics claim the war in Iraq is lost...is it?

I think the case is far too complex to know, but we may simplify it with a little brain exercise. First simplify the situation, and admit we are their for the oil. Next abandon the cities and occuply only the oilfields and the distribution network. Only occupy those oilfields worth occupying, the big ones of course. Then we figure out how many troops per square would be needed to permanently garrison the area. Simple math: square miles of oilfields x soldiers per square mile = amount of committed armed forces.

Yes this amounts to taking the oil, pure and simple. Pretty hard to swallow, but the Machiavellian angle should be pointed out.

So what is that number? How many troops would it take to secure the fields and suck out all that oil?
I have no idea, still too many variables

The whole operation would involve rounding up any existing occupants on or around the fields and kicking them out. Then a defensive perimeter is established. Watch towers stationed every few hundred yards along the pipelines should do the trick. It can be assumed that defending a position is far easier than offensive operations.

The US military is already well suited for this task, having aerial, naval, and telecommunication dominance. All that is needed now is the political will...