There are something like 1.5 million Active Duty and Miltary Reservist. Something like 1.3 million national guard and reservist.
In the Middle East - Iraq , Kuwait, Afghanistan, etc... it's estimated that there were something like 170,000 soldiers (including 30,000 coalition forces). 25%+ of our forces were national guard and reservist. The sources of these numbers are this site
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...iraq_orbat.htm and
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/...03-ff04se.html
And we've actually been spread thinner over the years.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Nat...y/cda06-02.cfm ...
Not to mention that During the Vietnam "war" we had 5 times as many people deployed overseas as we currently have - (yes we had a larger military by over 100%) but it still represented a relative increase of something like 20%
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Nat...y/cda06-02.cfm
Could we take on Iran , Iraq, and North Korea at one time. There are currently something like 40,000 soldiers stationed in S. Korea. North Korea's forces are estimated at nearly 980,000. At the start of the first gulf war, Iraq had nearly the same number ... 950,000 which we knocked down to something like 350,000 which they rebuilt to 450,000 prior to the second conflict.
There is no telling what would come of an armed conflict with North Korea. I can only suspect it would not be good. But I would also venture a guesss that the support staff that is currently in the middle east for all of our other operations would reduce the amount of forces required for any battle with Iran.
the long and the short is that we could probably handle a 3 front battle while still maintaining an active prescence around the globe. would it be a little stressful... yeh probably. would the actions of one conflict ... effect the ability to act in the other theatres. yes, probably, especially if korea started to turn into another vietnam.
should we engage in any of them. my opinion. no.
should we allow north korea to run off the deep end. hell no. something has to be done. And they are a sovereign nation with a loose canon meglomaniac leader who doens't want to be told what to do by anybody ... but certainly not by the western world. What the answers is ... i don't know. And thank god, i'm not a foreign political advisor or a military strategist