The problem is that, at this point, I don't think more troops or a more aggressive approach will help-- the U.S. has already long lost the political "hearts & minds" battle, so even if you level every mosque and kill every insurgent today, tomorrow there will be a new insurgency. Sending the National Guard which is in principle designed as a stateside, peacetime organization to battle with the most deadly terrorists on Earth is obviously stupid. The result is that the National Guard has failed to meet is recruitment goals this year. Is that a problem? I don't think so, because essentially the insurgency is losing the military battle, and the U.S. is winning. However, we're clearly losing the political battle; the result will be a united Shiite Islamic state (uniting Iran & part of Iraq). Also, if the U.S. is ever seriously threatened outside of Iraq, the military will be unable to respond except with overwhelming force (i.e. nuclear weapons as opposed to paratroopers & tanks)