Don't take this wrong. I am pained by every Coalition death and the deaths of any innocent civilian.

However, a longer War gives us the opportunity to bury the memory of Mogadishu, Lebanon and all the incidents that have caused our enemies to doubt our resolve. An easy win would have been great but it would have been perceived as a win for technology and not for USA.

By taking the hits and paying for the victory with blood, our enemies will be less inclined to take us on in the future. Now all we have to do is get it done.

As to the plan, what you say seems obvious to me. If the additional troops had not been planned it would have taken months to deploy them.