Commanding General in Iraq Who Quits Speaks Out

[Linkster]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMPIi03wSfY
New ad he just put out - amazing!

[Linkster]

I should have added in the link to the website that actually published this originally - http://www.votevets.org/ which is a group of former military commanders and vets from Iraq that are taking on the president in more unique ways and exposing his lies every day

[Bill]

I like the vote vets crew.

I kinda wish the major general provided a more complete critique. I know the american brain can't hold onto a sound bite of more than about 6 words, but I'd appreciate a more thorough analysis.

[Linkster]

Here's a little background on him and what drove this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18592759/site/newsweek/

[Bill]

I liked this paragraph:

"Today's sense of frustration among the military brass has been redoubled by the knowledge that this is the second time in the last two generations that things have broken down. In Vietnam too, generals stayed silent when they should have voiced their reservations about how the civilians were handling and politicizing a war. Col. H.R. McMaster, a highly regarded Army officer whose tactics in Tal Afar, Iraq, have been praised by Bush, made this argument in his 1998 (and recently reissued) book, "Dereliction of Duty." The point was also raised eloquently by former secretary of State Colin Powell in his 1995 memoir, "My American Journey." Powell wrote: "Many of my generation, the career captains, majors, and lieutenant colonels seasoned in that war, vowed that when our turn came to call the shots, we would not quietly acquiesce in halfhearted warfare for half-baked reasons…" As we now know, almost all of these military officers did quietly acquiesce, along with Powell."


But, other than Batiste's comment about moving brigades around to chase emergencies (presumably because of an underpowered, undersized force), the article is still short on specific criticisms.

"But Batiste adds: "I do remember speaking to both those guys about the frustrations of picking up a brigade element of 3,000 to 5,000 troops in contact with the enemy and moving to another location in Iraq 200 to 300 miles away to deal with an emergency. When you do that you create an immediate vacuum. … It's the whack-a-mole game. They're doing the same thing now.""