Actually, troops are extremely expensive. A 'simple' jarhead costs milllions.
And yes, he was trying to prove his doctrine. Fair enough. I criticise him for not accepting it was inappropriate to a full invasion. You know, intervene somewhere small, OK. Take over a country, you need a leeeetle bit more. Of course it coudl just be that he thought if the Brits can be effective with two blokes from Wolverhampton and a half brick...