See other History Articles
Title: Ex-top soldier: Iraq war ‘fiasco’ due to Rumsfeld’s ‘lies’
Source:
[None]
URL Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/iraq-fiasco-due-bushs-lies/
Published: Oct 14, 2010
Author: Daniel Tencer
Post Date: 2010-10-14 15:07:36 by Ada
Keywords: None
Views: 160
Comments: 7
Rumsfeld had 'worst style of leadership I witnessed in 38 years of service' The US had no reason to invade Iraq in 2003, and only did so because of "a series of lies" told to the American people by the Bush administration, says Gen. Hugh Shelton, who served for four years as the US's top military officer. Shelton, who was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1997 to 2001, makes the comment in Without Hesitation: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, a soon-to-be-published memoir reviewed at Foreign Policy by Thomas E. Ricks. "President Bush and his team got us enmeshed in Iraq based on extraordinarily poor intelligence and a series of lies purporting that we had to protect Americans from Saddam's evil empire because it posed such a threat to our national security," Shelton writes in his memoir. According to Ricks, Shelton states that, in order to get the war going, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld "elbowed aside Gen. Richard Myers and the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and also intimidated and flattered Gen. Tommy R. Franks while working directly with him, and so basically went to war without getting the advice of his top military advisors." Story continues below... Shelton reportedly saves his harshest criticisms for Rumsfeld himself, who he said had "the worst style of leadership I witnessed in 38 years of service." Ricks writes: After his first meeting with Rumsfeld, Shelton recalls thinking, "We're going to need some heavy-duty cleaning supplies if all we're going to do is waste time having pissing contests like this." When Rumsfeld was proven wrong in a meeting, Shelton says, he wouldn't admit it, but rather would press on and do "his best to stay afloat amid the bullshit he was shoveling out." At one point, Rumsfeld utterly rejected a plan for how to deal with Iraqi attacks on U.S. warplanes in the old "no-fly zones." Shelton liked the plan how it was, so when ordered to revamp it, he let it sit on his desk for a couple of weeks, and then sent it back to the defense secretary with a new label on it: "Rumsfeld Auto-Response Matrix." "He loved every word of it," Shelton reports with unconcealed contempt. Shelton goes on to criticize the Bush administration's assertions about Saddam Hussein's supposed weapons of mass destruction. "Spinning the possible possession of WMDs as a threat to the United States in the way they did is, in my opinion, tantamount to intentionally deceiving the American people," Shelton writes. Ricks notes that "[t]hese are pretty serious charges, given that they come from the man who was the nation's top military officer for four years immediately preceding 9/11." Ricks also reports that Shelton has less-than-kind words for Sen. John McCain, who Shelton writes "had a screw loose because normal people just didn't behave in that manner." In another part of the memoir, Shelton asserts that "[t]he John McCain that I knew was subject to wild mood swings and would break into erratic temper tantrums in the middle of a normal conversation." Shelton's book goes on sale on Friday.
The result, Shelton writes, was a war plan that amounted to a "fiasco."
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Ada (#0)
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
If he was top guard dog just prior to 9/11 it would be interesting to hear his explanation of how it was that he wasn't aware of the "insiders'" preparations for it.
If the military was involved and not just civilians commanding the Saudis, the ISI, etc., it was either OMI who took the direct hit on their nearly empty Pentagon wing or one of their enemies. I suspect the Army was out of the loop.
All in the family, UNTIL SOMEONE WETS IN HIS CHEERIOS. He didnt get to the top by being CANDID/HONEST. THAT ALWAYS COMES after the fact, typical military BS artist. "I will tell on the other kids for money"... Franks is a Jew and he got out ASAP.
I would like to point out that Shelton is a hard core Democrat who campaigned for Hillary Clinton. While I have no reason to believe that what he is saying is not the truth, it's irrelevant today, seven years after the beginning of the federal governments war of terror against non-Jews in the Middle East. Nothing he says is going to stop HIS PARTY from continuing the war they have so passionately embraced. There are reasons why this book came out two weeks prior to the election. Shelton and his Democan benefactors are trying to deflect and redirect the anger felt among some of their base concerning the Democan Party's failure to act on the anti-war rhetoric they spouted prior to winning the majority. They are also trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the rubes that still believe that the Democans and Republicrats are ideological enemies. They are hoping that this book will get some traction and hurt the Republicrats. That's it. It has nothing to do with his caring about the troops or him being upset because of the lies he was part of that got us to the point we are at today. It's political cynicism at its finest.
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Director, CIA 1973–1976 Nothing in the State, everything outside the State, everything against the State - Jan Lester, Escape From Leviathan "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." - Frederic Bastiat Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone. - Zhuangzi
Support the troops - kill the infidels!
"Satan / Cheney in "08" That part of his whining is all too true. I have seen grown men,professionals, in the military, grovel in front of superior officers, to the point it was embarrassing. Evil or wrong triumphed over good and right because of weak men. They ALWAYS had a legal and morale way out, instead they took the way of the coward.
#2. To: Ada (#0)
the nation's top military officer for four years immediately preceding 9/11."
#3. To: Tatarewicz (#2)
If he was top guard dog just prior to 9/11 it would be interesting to hear his explanation of how it was that he wasn't aware of the "insiders'" preparations for it.
#4. To: ghostdogtxn (#1)
About time you woke your four star ass up.
#5. To: Ada (#0)
#6. To: Ada (#0)
After his first meeting with Rumsfeld, Shelton recalls thinking, "We're going to need some heavy-duty cleaning supplies if all we're going to do is waste time having pissing contests like this." When Rumsfeld was proven wrong in a meeting, Shelton says, he wouldn't admit it, but rather would press on and do "his best to stay afloat amid the bullshit he was shoveling out."
#7. To: tom007 (#6)
When Rumsfeld was proven wrong in a meeting, Shelton says, he wouldn't admit it, but rather would press on and do "his best to stay afloat amid the bullshit he was shoveling out."
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest