« Missing Photos | Main | He is Risen! »
April 15, 2006
Of those retired Generals
Thus, for distinguished officers to step forward and, in retrospect, pin blame on one person is wrong. And when they do so in a time of war, the rest of the world watches. -- Michael DeLong, a retired Marine lieutenant general, is the author, with Noah Lukeman, of "Inside Centcom: The Unvarnished Truth About the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq." [This book was co-authored by none other than General Zinni!]
What is the credibility of generals making the following statements?
Major General Paul D. Eaton:
First, his failure to build coalitions with our allies, what he dismissively called 'old Europe' has imposed far greater demands and risks on our soldiers in Iraq than necessary. Second, he alienated his allies in our own military, ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input.
So, we are back to the coalition argument; France and Germany wouldn't help us so all is lost. And France and Germany wouldn't help us because they were just so offended by being called old Europe. I think the most interesting tidbit about the general's background is this--he commanded the training of Iraqi security forces until 2004. Our reader, Dr. Sid, sums up how successful the general was by discussing a batch of new recruits from Basra this week:
I celebrate every graduate they produce. We need more of 'em. The question is, for whom will they ultimately work? How many will stay THEIR course? Will they defend whatever government is finally (assuming it wil come to pass) decided upon? Will they behave as Iraqis, one and all, or as Shia, which most of them are? Remains to be seen. But for now, good on 'em. Let's hope they differ from the military thus far produced.[emphasis added]
He is not alone. Virtually all of the people who have visited Iraq since this general's departure have indicated that they've seen a change (that includes the training of police and troops) and that we've finally gotten it right. This even includes Iraq war critic and liberal columnist David Ignatius.
General Anthony "Blame the Jews" Zinni
Iraq war critic from before the Iraq war. Part of John Kerry's campaign. Favorite general of the left. If you complain about everything, you are bound to be right on a lot of things in war. He retired from the marines in 2000 before Bush even took office - so he would have absolutely no clue about what was going on other than hearsay. He is also selling books! The Battle for Peace just hit the bookstores LAST WEEK! Bash Bush and Sell Books! You can even pay thousands of dollars to book him to Bash Bush at your next event: http://www.generalzinni.com/index.htm.
Lt. General Gregory Newbold
What we are living with now is the consequences of successive policy failures. Some of the missteps include: the distortion of intelligence in the buildup to the war [more Joe Wilson garbage], McNamara-like micromanagement that kept our forces from having enough resources to do the job [how does he know this? he retired before the war], the failure to retain and reconstitute the Iraqi military in time to help quell civil disorder [he can thank General Eaton (above) for this], the initial denial that an insurgency was the heart of the opposition to occupation, alienation of allies who could have helped in a more robust way to rebuild Iraq [the UN ran like cowards after the first bomb at one of their buildings], and the continuing failure of the other agencies of our government to commit assets to the same degree as the Defense Department [whatever that means]. My Sincere view is that the commitment of our forces to this fight was done with a casualness and swagger [that's code speak for the cowboy policies of Bush] that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions [thats more code speak for "chicken hawks" who represent about 275 million Americans]--or bury the results.
Where to begin? Again, he retired in 2002 which was the year before we went to war with Iraq. [I am getting sleepy; I will post more on him later]
Major General John Batiste
I think he should step aside and let someone step in who can be more realistic. I think we need a resh start. We need leadership there that respects the military as they expect the military to expect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork.
General Batiste was the commander of the First Infantry Division in Iraq. I think of all the generals he has the MOST credibility in his assessment of the happenings in Iraq. So looks at what else he's said:
April 2006 in the WaPo: I think he should step aside and let someone step in who can be more realistic. I think we need a resh start. We need leadership there that respects the military as they expect the military to expect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork.
December 2004 he introduced Rumsfeld and said to his troops, "[Rumsfeld] is a man with the courage and the conviction to win the war on terrorism."
Wednesday on CNN: "Iraqis, frankly, in my experience, do not understand democracy. Nor do they understand their responsibility for a free society." [RACIST]
Last year: "The Iraqi 4th Division represents what is and what is meant to be in Iraq. The soldiers of the division not only reflect the rich ethnic/religious diversity of Iraq, but they also imbue with the energy, courage and determination which the vast majority of the Iraqi people have for freedom and representative government."
[Mr Sandman is tapping; I will have to finish this post in the morning (two generals to go)]
Posted by Aaron at April 15, 2006 11:55 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.lifelikepundits.com/cgi-bin/mt3/mt-tb.cgi/2316