Is American cowardice the reason why we do not have a larger army and more success in Iraq and Afghanistan?

In WWII we had 16 million people in the army and half the population we do now. If we were serious about Iraq we could put two soldiers on every houses doorstep. We just spent enough money on the loan bailout to fund another army. Does it send the message to our enemies that we are not willing to face them in more than a limited manner with our significantly reduced armed forces?