Retired Gen. Anthony Zinni Blasts Rumsfeld

In an interview retired Marine Corp. General Anthony Zinni gave before a speaking engagement, he blasted Sec. Def. Donald Rumsfeld for being caught by surprise by the amount of deaths the Americans have taken - especially during this uprising.

Zinni was one of the generals who opposed just about everything about this Iraq invasion. LIke former Army Gen. Eric Shinseki he believed the invasion force would require much more troops and much better support planning. (A view I thoroughly supported.) He also believed Iraq would probably be a more stable country with Saddam - however detestable - ruling it. Zinni knew the tyrant was no threat to America, as did many others. HE also understood the complex make-up of the country. It should actually be at least three countries/regions, rather than one. Civil war looms, if not something far worse - with our troops caught dead in the middle.

The bottom line is Zinni was right and is right. The number of boots sent in to invade and occupy was FAR short the number required. And people are dying because of it. I agree with him 1000%

HEADS SHOULD ROLL - NAMELY AT THE PENTAGON!


Here's the interview with Gen. Zinni:

Warnings Ignored, Says Retired Marine
By Rick Rogers
San Diego Union-Tribune

Friday 16 April 2004

Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni wondered aloud yesterday how Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could be caught off guard by the chaos in Iraq that has killed nearly 100 Americans in recent weeks and led to his announcement that 20,000 U.S. troops would be staying there instead of returning home as planned.

"I'm surprised that he is surprised because there was a lot of us who were telling him that it was going to be thus," said Zinni, a Marine for 39 years and the former commander of the U.S. Central Command. "Anyone could know the problems they were going to see. How could they not?"

At a Pentagon news briefing yesterday, Rumsfeld said he could not have estimated how many troops would be killed in the past week.

truthout.org...

Generals Zinni and Shinseki were not alone in their analysis. Unfortunately all voices of reason were stomped out in favor of a rush to war by those zealot and ignorant neocons. Let them stabilize Iraq. Oh, but then again - they don't go to war - they send other people to do that for them.

Nor was Bush aware of similar warnings urgently being sounded by the military's top strategic analysts. One monograph, Reconstructing Iraq, by the US Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute, predicted in detail "possible severe security difficulties" and conflicts among Iraqis that US forces "can barely comprehend". I have learned that it was suppressed by the Pentagon neocons, and only released to US central command after Senator Joseph Biden, the ranking Democrat on the foreign relations committee, directly intervened. A revolt within the military against Bush is brewing. Many in the military's strategic echelon share the same feelings of being ignored and ill-treated by the administration that senior intelligence officers voice in private. "The Pentagon began with fantasy assumptions on Iraq and worked back," one of them remarked to me.

from - Hear No Evil, Read No Evil, Speak Drivel
By Sidney Blumenthal
The Guardian

Thursday 15 April 2004

Bush's press conference shows just how ill-informed he is about Iraq.

http://truthout.org...

[Edited on 19-09-2003 by EastCoastKid]

"invade and occupy"

The choice of words that are used are interesting. Surely this was a case a of liberation not invasion and occupation. May be more than cock up has been made in the whole affair

Liberation? How is that? The original rationale was to crush Saddam's WMD before he could use them to wipe America off the face of the map. That didn't work, so they shifted the rationale to liberation.

I would've shot Saddam myself had I found the bastard in my sights - during the Gulf War. But alas, that was not to be. It seems George the first had a much greater handle on what occupation would mean than this merry band of non-military fools did. I don't think they knew anything about Iraq, it's people or it's history. As impossible as that seems. Guess that's what you get for putting a Soviet Cold War expert in charge of National security.

The bottom line is Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz believed they better understood the situation than all of those life-long military combat vets. And incidentally, they get paid to tell their civilian bosses what the plans and costs are gonna be. If they marginalize their wisdom and shut them up, civilian heads MUST roll, to use this administration's crude language.

What makes me sick is the sheer hypocrisy of the Republicans in control. Anyone remember SOMALIA? Because then Sec. Def. Les Aspen refused to provide the equipment for the MOG operation depicted in the movie "Blackhawk Down," he was forced to resign. I and my fellow Republicans were outraged at the stupidity and demanded it. At least in Clinton's administration someone was held accountable for at least some of their tragic misteps. I am crushed over the incompetency and lack of accountability in the Bush White House. It's an affront to all who have ever served. And should be to all Americans who truly love this great nation.

[Edited on 19-09-2003 by EastCoastKid]

"Liberation? How is that? The original rationale was to crush Saddam's WMD before he could use them to wipe America off the face of the map. That didn't work, so they shifted the rationale to liberation"

The contention that they could be used to wipe America off the map is the most misleading. Only very few states have the rocket capability to hit the US from that range and Iraq was never one of them. You can not seperate the goal of ridding Iraq of WMD from that of liberating Iraq from Saddams regime as they are the same.

Other than that you`ll get no argument from on your points especially about Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.

"I am crushed over the incompetency and lack of accountability in the Bush White House"

Sorry one last question, do you believe there is accountability in any Whitehouse administration??

Originally posted by cassini
The contention that they could be used to wipe America off the map is the most misleading. Only very few states have the rocket capability to hit the US from that range and Iraq was never one of them. You can not seperate the goal of ridding Iraq of WMD from that of liberating Iraq from Saddams regime as they are the same.

It's undeniable that was what this administration led the American people and its allies to believe. Those in the know at the time knew how fraudulent that assessment was. (That Iraq was such a danger.)Unfortunately, the compliant mainstream media trumpeted the White House line for months leading up to the invasion. That was why the everyone went along with it. It's natural for citizens to want to believe in their leadership. Hell, back during the Gulf War I had complete confidence in Bush I's leadership - down to my company commander. No one wants to think our leaders are lying to us. Unfortunately in the case of the invasion it was a complete fraud - and so many people's lives have been destroyed because of it. I voted for Bush. I have every right to criticize his pathetic "leadership." Wouldn't you agree?


Sorry one last question, do you believe there is accountability in any Whitehouse administration??

Yes Cassini, I do. At least to some extent. That's why I brought up the case of Somalia. After JFK's Bay of Pigs fiasco, he, too, took responsibility. Here's a quote:

Kennedy: On April 21 1961, President Kennedy held a press conference to answer questions on the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles that he had approved. "There's an old saying," he said, "that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan ... I am the responsible officer of the government and that is quite obvious."



It's high time someone in this adminstration step up to plate and admit to failure and responsibility for this disasterous foreign policy. That's all I ask. For my comrades and their grieving families, that's not a lot to ask.





[Edited on 19-09-2003 by EastCoastKid]