The slippery slope of incremental increases in military deployments

It has been recently reported that SecDec announced that more members of our military will deploy to Iraq.  Astounding after Obama's unilaterally declaring the end of combat in Iraq.

 

Apart from the obvious contradiction, the more worrisome aspect is the slippery slope of incremental increases in military deployments that SecDef's announcement highlights.  Incremental increases by a president who ran for election and reelection on the promise of ending the war.  

And these orders ignore our own military history.

All of the past and current deployment orders, from presidential administrations led by both political parties, come without benefit of a declaration of war.  One need not have to think hard to draw the startling comparison of another long war fought without a declaration of war.

Vietnam also saw the slippery slope of incremental increases in military deployments, in spite of the worthless limits on troops touted by various administrations.  Then, as now, the real numbers were obscured by personnel accounting legerdemain.  For example, if only "temporarily" deployed, the count was not added to the troop ceiling.  Simply ridiculous.

Not only ridiculous, but dishonest and probably illegal.

If we are in a position that requires the use of military force, Congress must be called upon to declare war.  With the declaration in hand, the National Command Authorities then assign the mission to win to one of the combatant commanders, with the service chiefs providing the well trained and equipped forces requested by the combatant commander.  Then  the combatant commander fights to win.  (And without the widely reported interference by young inexperienced staffers assigned to the national security council.)

We have already begun the slide down that slope.  For example, Marine Staff Sergeant Cardin was killed in Iraq after artillery was deployed to assist our allies.  Most of the nation was blissfully unaware of this deployment.  And now more force protection assets will be required.  More aircraft are being deployed.  And then even more capabilities will be deployed because SecDef said only we can take on this mission.  So much for the end of the war in Iraq, as POTUS declared.  

Sadly, we have not learned from history.  Tighten your belts, because we are about to go down that same slippery slope.