Enough Soldiers?

The New York Times runs a story about Dora, a city in Iraq:

Mr. Jabouri emphasized that the American presence had made Dora safer. Like others in the area, he raved about being able to sleep again on his roof, away from the sweltering indoor heat. He said some of the families who had fled the violence seemed to be returning, and that the Iraqis and Americans who searched his home were respectful and seemed sincerely interested in improving the neighborhood.

and,

“If the Americans leave, it will go back to killing in the streets,” he said. “It will be civil war.”

finally,

The broader hope is that the political process in Iraq will accelerate and create bonds across sects and persuade militias to disarm. General Casey and other American commanders have promised that the Baghdad security operation will last months, not weeks. They have pledged to tackle every neighborhood, including Sadr City, the stronghold of the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

The question is whether the American military has enough soldiers to expand even as it tries to sustain progress in the first neighborhoods secured.

The people of Dora say they can hardly bear the thought of being abandoned.

Emphasis mine.