Former Top US Commander In Iraq Calls War "Nightmare With No End In Sight"

New York Times:

In a sweeping indictment of the four-year effort in Iraq, the former top American commander called the Bush administration's handling of the war incompetent and warned that the United States was "living a nightmare with no end in sight."

In one of his first major public speeches since leaving the Army in late 2006, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez blamed the administration for a "catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan" and denounced the current "surge" strategy as a "desperate" move that will not achieve long-term stability.

"After more than fours years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism," Mr. Sanchez said, at a gathering here of military reporters and editors.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[LaFeminazi]

Repugs.

Either bombing someone or hating someone.

Now thats what I call diplomacy.

I would say this is unAmerican behaviour.

;)

[LaFeminazi]

but but the don't have our values

"shock n awe them!"

[HumeSkeptic]

"American military doctrine has emphasised the use of overwhelming force, applied suddenly and decisively, to defeat the enemy. But in a world where insurgents and militias deploy invisibly among civilian populations, overwhelming force is almost always counterproductive: it alienates precisely those people who have to make a break with the hardcore fighters and deny them the ability to operate freely. The kind of counterinsurgency campaign needed to defeat transnational militias and terrorists puts political goals ahead of military ones, and emphasises hearts and minds over shock and awe."

-Francis Fukuyama is one of the original signers of the PNAC Statement of Principles – the “NeoCon Oath” of sorts: http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

[kevenseven]

When the only tool you understand is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[WOLFWARRIOR]

NAS-SHIPS - NAS-WAGON-TRAINS !!!

Thats all I'm saying on that Matter ...

Dave Johnson:
New Republican "NASCAR" Smear On Democrats

[MaryMullins]

Nascar idiots are Viagra popping morons.

[serialcoma]

Hi there carzy mary...who do you want killed now? Jeff Gordon? You are completely psychotic and sociopathic you know.. a regular case study...

supporting murder to further your peaceful agenda... just like george bush and dick cheney. You guys all related by blood? Pun intended weirdo.... now go take your meds.

[LaFeminazi]

LOl

Ann Coulter makes friends in Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=912006&contrassID=25&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1

[LaFeminazi]

Fixafalt have a listen to VoA and read a bit.

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-08/2007-08-28-voa61.cfm?CFID=143995673&CFTOKEN=40317205

[LaFeminazi]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&article_id=85910&categ_id=17

[barrycourage]

Hey!

Where are all of the anti-Semites? Can't they see that unholy, warmongering, blood-thirsty, pro-Iraq War AIPAC-New York Times alliance is at it again?

They're still busy updating "Mein Kampf" and "Protocols" on the Coulter thread:

----------­----------­----------­----------­-------
sword:

Here is list of media chiefs of major media companies that control 90% of media. While not every one of them is Jewish, better than 90% of them are. That is enough to shout down the remainder should they get out of line. Note: the left was "smart" and the right was "stupid" in the world of not too long ago. The Jewish connection to our wars has brought out a sturdy response on the left. Suddenly, formerly intelligent people are being labeled "stupid," etc. by AIPAC/PNAC­/NYT/FOX/F­ILL-IN-THE­-BLANK apologists. The MO is to attack first...an­d attack again later. But facts are funny things... The list: (too much data to put in Co.)

[...]

----------­----------­----------­----------­-------

Anti-semitism has nothing to do with anything but anti-Semitism. Res ipsa loquitor.

[LaFeminazi]

Much of the debate at Leavenworth has centered on a scathing article, “A Failure in Generalship,” written last May for Armed Forces Journal by Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, an Iraq veteran and deputy commander of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment who holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago. “If the general remains silent while the statesman commits a nation to war with insufficient means, he shares culpability for the results,” Colonel Yingling wrote.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/us/14army.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[LaFeminazi]

Fixaflat should read the article, the whole military are less than convinced by the administrations tactics.

[Tom95134]

But at the same time they are not willing to put their jobs on the line by speaking out against what was clearly a disasterous plan for invasion and occupation. General Shinseki was the only one with the balls to do so and look were it got him. He's is one of the few that have left the field with their honor intact.

[HumeSkeptic]

The General is saying what we on the Left have been saying since before this Iraq Fraud (aka war) started.

The General is clearly a Libruhl, jihadist-lover, terrist supporter, secret AQ-I member,un-American, a traitor and IslamoCommuFascist symapthizer.

Did I miss anything?

God bless the phony troops.

[gallstones]

HumeSkeptic,
What do you mean by the "phony" troops?
Please, I would really like clarification 'cause I am not getting your point.

[Felicty]

It should go without saying that the white house will try to smear him as gay or something.

[JohnJames]

They're a little more subtle than that. But Coulter isn't.

[Joeseo]

We Americans havn't a clue about holding Bush/Cheney and Corporate America accountable.

We Americans simply nod and agree. I am still angry at how we behaved when these two ordered our combat troops to hide our flag. We allowed that marine to be punished for showing our flag at that statue.

Our media intensifies our ignorance as it continues creating an issue about the absence of a lapel pin.

Our military deserves strong criticism for its failure to act militarily. Common sense dictates that Corporate policies cannot win a battle let alone a war.

We have ignored President Eisenhower's caveat. We remain clueless.

[HumeSkeptic]

"I believe that we can effectively defend ourselves abroad and at home without dimming our core principles. Indeed, I believe that our success in defending ourselves depends precisely on not giving up what we stand for."
- Al Gore

-----------

How odd in this day and age to hear such intellectual nonsense!

[SmellyOne]

Hume, the more you post about this Al Gore person, the more and more I like him.

Gore/Obama in '08. I'm on board.

[HumeSkeptic]

Then there is hope for you, yet.

Welcome aboard.

[davy]

"He's got balls"!

Only the truth will set us free.

[thgy]

You can add Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to that list of incompetent power hungry traitors to the constitution and our brave ancestors.

[WOLFWARRIOR]

Like anyone is going to think the rich-greedy washington
insider's is telling the the truth ....

"""Bush: Protectionism will cost U.S. jobs"""

NAFTA CREATED JOB'S ????

WEll yes it did - For million's of illegal Mexican's - Coming
to fill the job's the lost there and created here ....

And does - saying you created a few million job's count ??? - When
after all it was for illegal worker's and drove up the welfare
roll's - and wanted to pushed a BIG TAX onto the American poor -
Under the cover of it's for American Kid's ???

Ohhh well let's go vote for Clinton and we can keep IRAQ/IRAN and
those good NAFTA/CAFTA China deals ....

And above all steal from the Poorest American's - For the rich-greedy
washington insider's ...

NOW LEAST WE FORGET - CLINTON IS ALL GUNG-HO - ON THEY DID WAR - PRIVATE
MERC'S AND JUST BOMB AWAY ....

.

[rabun666]

NAFTA made money laundering a lot easier. Just by walking around Cancun the phony store fronts for that purpose are obvious.

[MaryMullins]

When you send in 150,000 trained monkeys, none of whom speak Arabic, much less correct English to rape, pillage, abuse people who they are TAUGHT are lesser human beings than themselves, you can expect the results you see today.

[kevenseven]

Mary.

You have needlessly insulted the professionalism of the US military. The troops are not in Iraq out of choice.

It is the criminal fraud of the Bush Admin that put them there.

And, yes, I have read Chalmers' "Sorrows of Empire".

[MaryMullins]

Suggest you read a book entitled 'Sons of Mom' by Philip Wylie.

Also a good one is 'Generation of Vipers' also by Philip Wylie.

[MaryMullins]

Yeah, I have seen how 'professional' your military is in Germany.

90 percent of troops can't count to 10 in Germany and can't even point to Montana on a map of their own country.

Want to see mediocre bunch of dipshits? Visit any American base in Germany...­...like a little ghetto and if it wasn't for their First Sergeant staying on their ass it would be a pigpen.

Overgrown boys is what they really are.

[ieatartichoke]

I am in no way defending MaryMullins's derogatory comments. Such uncivil words are undeserving of conversation.

But, Kevenseven, while I agree that the troops are not in Iraq out of explicit choice, it is true that war, in general, could not exist, if no one agreed to take part. I know this is simplifying a far more complicated abstraction, but again,

no soldiers, no war.

(Insight courtesy of Howard Zinn)

[HumeSkeptic]

We don't need to recall Presidents long dead for guidance.

Here:

"This effort to rework America's carefully balanced constitutional design into a lopsided structure dominated by an all-powerful executive branch, with a subservient Congress and subservient judiciary, is ironically accompanied by an effort by the same administration to rework America's foreign policy from one that is based primarily on U.S. moral authority into one that is based on a misguided and self-defeating effort to establish a form of dominance in the world.

The common denominator seems to be based on an instinct to intimidate and control"

- Al Gore

[outnow]

General Sanchez and Former Secretary of Defense probably knew or should have known of this abuse since it was modeled after Gitmo techniques. Instead, they blamed it on Private English, a former special education student. This is what Bush mean when he speaks of no child left behind.

[rabun666]

Sanchez was a loudmouth shill for Bush when he conducted the daily press briefing in Iraq. I mean Bush could do not wrong and Bush turned on him, of course, just like Bush turns on everyone eventually.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Now THAT's Presidential.

Or, you can have, "The man and the fish can coexist in peace."

[SmellyOne]

"The common denominator seems to be based on an instinct to intimidate and control"

Sounds like it was ripped out of HumeSkeptic's commenting playbook.

But seriously folks, Al Gore is dead on with what Hume wrote he said.

Add to that the problem of a Democratic party that is spineless and directionless.

The Democratics are taking their turn fucking up the "checks and balances" thing.

Hopefully, Barak Obama will be our next president and we can restore balance to the Universe. His presidencey will be such a departure from the current administration's that we just might be all right if it happens.

It's up to you HuffBots to get it done. Hillary is a no good. She really sucks.

I may even give up my 20 years of being registered as an Independent to vote for Barak in the primaries, which means I would have to become a registerd Democratic.

[peacekitten]

perhaps you don't need to recall dead presidents, but some things never change.

the message remains the same.

the quality of some words are timeless, just as i'm sure some of gore's will prove to be as well.

people die.

thoughts live on.

gore would be a godsend.

perhaps the big sky fairy might yet redeem himself, seeing as how he's got a lot of 'splainin' to do for the mess we're in right now if he expects anybody to take him seriously.­.......

[HumeSkeptic]

True!

My point was that we do have leaders other than the clowns that MSM has decided would lead us.