Matt Ortega

U.S. Army General Eric Shinseki testified five years ago today before the Senate Armed Services Committee about force requirements for post-war Iraq.

SEN. LEVIN: General Shinseki, could you give us some idea as to the magnitude of the Army’s force requirement for an occupation of Iraq following a successful completion of the war?

GEN. SHINSEKI: In specific numbers, I would have to rely on combatant commanders’ exact requirements. But I think –

SEN. LEVIN: How about a range?

GEN. SHINSEKI: I would say that what’s been mobilized to this point — something on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers are probably, you know, a figure that would be required. We’re talking about post-hostilities control over a piece of geography that’s fairly significant, with the kinds of ethnic tensions that could lead to other problems. And so it takes a significant ground-force presence.

Gen. Shinseki’s testimony led to an immediate backlash from the Defense Department, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Under Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.