How has the Pentagon changed after Rumsfeld's departure? What is the war doing to U.S. combat readiness? Does the military think we can win in Iraq?

Journalist Thom Shanker addressed these questions and others March 8 during the annual Sidney Drell Lecture, sponsored by the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). Past speakers have included astronaut Sally Ride, physicist Freeman Dyson and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei.

Although cautious about stating his own opinions, the New York Times national security correspondent provided an insider's view of the U.S. military establishment to an audience of more than 200 people in the Tresidder Oak Lounge.

Shanker talked about the mood at the Pentagon following Donald Rumsfeld's departure as secretary of defense in December, contrasting his leadership style with that of his successor, Robert Gates. "There has already been a dramatic shift in tenor and style," Shanker said. "The stress level is way down."

Shanker also worried that committing as many as 30,000 more of America's strategic troop reserve would hurt its ability to respond to crises elsewhere in the world. According to Shanker, the military would still be able to carry out required missions, but it would be "slower, less elegant and riskier." And if the troops stay for a year, he said, it would violate the doctrine that the strategic reserve only be committed for specific, short goals.

While Shanker was unwilling to give personal recommendations because of his position as a journalist, he read anonymous e-mails from military officers whose opinions he had solicited for the talk. Many of the e-mails spoke of the need for more personal sacrifice on the part of Americans, both financially and personally.

"The American military cannot win the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," wrote one officer with multiple tours of duty in Iraq, "nor will they. Militaries don't win wars. They defeat other militaries. Only governments win wars."

Another officer stated: "We didn't win World War II until the Marshall Plan. This is a war for the soul of Islam and we have no Marshall Plan."

A third respondent wrote: "Right now only two agencies are fighting, the Defense Department and the CIA."

"But what would happen if we put 5,000 additional State Department employees into Iraq?" the respondent continued. "Or 5,000 teachers, 5,000 professors, 5,000 bankers, 10,000 Fortune 500 executives?"

Concluding with a message of inspiration to students in the audience, Shanker said that when he was embedded with a Green Beret unit in Afghanistan, he realized that there are worse things than death.

"The opposite of life is not death," he said. "It's a life wasted."

He exhorted students to finish their studies and have the courage to go out and try to make a difference in the world, despite its many problems.

"It would be very bad for America," he said, "if you got lost."