General Ricardo Sanchez's Book Slams Bush, Iraq Handling

The Washington Post points out that in the hubbub of the McClellan book, another scathing memoir has come out exposing the truth behind Iraq.

Getting lost in the media furor over McClellan's memoir is the new autobiography of retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the onetime commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, who is scathing in his assessment that the Bush administration "led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions."

Among the anecdotes in "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story" is an arresting portrait of Bush after four contractors were killed in Fallujah in 2004, triggering a fierce U.S. response that was reportedly egged on by the president.

During a videoconference with his national security team and generals, Sanchez writes, Bush launched into what he described as a "confused" pep talk:

"Kick ass!" he quotes the president as saying. "If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can't send that message. It's an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal."

"There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!"

A White House spokesman had no comment.

Comments

[mydogshakespeare]

George W. Bush: Worst "president" in American History.

[Machu]

Wait till Obama becomes President. He will top that leaderboard!

LOL :)

[VivaZapata]

john prine's great compromise:
(part 1)
I knew a girl who was almost a lady
She had a way with all the men in her life
Every inch of her blossomed in beauty
And she was born on the fourth of July
Well she lived in an aluminum house trailer
And she worked in a juke box saloon
And she spent all the money I give her
Just to see the old man in the moon

Chorus:
I used to sleep at the foot of Old Glory
And awake in the dawn's early light
But much to my surprise
When I opened my eyes
I was a victim of the great compromise

Well we'd go out on Saturday evenings
To the drive-in on Route 41
And it was there that I first suspected
That she was doin' what she'd already done
She said "Johnny won't you get me some popcorn"
And she knew I had to walk pretty far
And as soon as I passed through the moonlight
She hopped into a foreign sports car

(Repeat chorus)

[trailblazer]

More Prine:

While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
If I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.

Chorus:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven anymore.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven anymore.

Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.

(Chorus)

Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...

"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."

[Rosanneofpgh]

are you ON something??

[GeoLee]

What tune?

[Rosanneofpgh]

and the point of your babbling is........­.

[VivaZapata]

sorry about the delay: Huffpost was so long in putting the first part up that I gave up. hopefully the second part will get to the point.
(part 2)
Well you know I could have beat up that fellow
But it was her that had hopped into his car
Many times I'd fought to protect her
But this time she was goin' too far
Now some folks they call me a coward
'Cause I left her at the drive-in that night
But I'd druther have names thrown at me
Than to fight for a thing that ain't right

(Repeat chorus)

Now she writes all the fellows love letters
Saying "Greetings, come and see me real soon"
And they go and line up in the barroom
And spend the night in that sick woman's room
But sometimes I get awful lonesome
And I wish she was my girl instead
But she won't let me live with her
And she makes me live in my head

(Repeat chorus)

[bac]

According to Amazon, this book was published on May 6, almost a month ago. How come there has been close to zero media coverage for this book?

[Diana]

Yes, and how come the coverage of mcclellen's book is mostly about mcclellen? Guess it's the 'liberal' media mcclellen talked about. (I actually think the guy deserves great credit for 'coming out.' Couldn't even listen to even 30 seconds of him as press secretary, but I really believe it took tremendous courage for him to face the facts, much less report on them.)

[AERO]

Because the "Liberal Media" is too busy covering Hillary's "lead in the popular vote" and Obama's "Reverend problem".

[doglove]

Sanchez is a traitor. Don't buy his book. We all know the truth.

They are all coming out now to cover their own asses.

Sanchez orchestrated the covering up of the rapes commited on American women soldiers and KRB workers in Iraq. He knew about them from the first one and has done all he can to bury the truth so they don't look bad.

I hope when they bring them up on charges, he is there too

[yoli647]

I see you are in denial, let the rest of us read all about it, we want the truth to come out, ieven if you don't care!!!

[KoreanVet]

Oh Yeah! Sanchez is a traitor and Bush is a draft dodging war criminal trying to be tough after missing his chance to kick ass in Nam by going AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard.

[McSameisthegame]

Probably---but not worse that Chimpy and Darth!!!

[realpolitic]

Condi Rice is the one who is covering up any murders done by Blackwater, any missing tens of billions in construction funds, and any rapes in Iraq. She will not let government investigators and auditors do their jobs to track misspending and the Blackwater crimes.

[ftprairiedog]

Why arn't the Son of Sam laws uses to keep these murders from making money on theie books?

[mccabe49]

Read about the virtual media blackout in regard to this war. The administration's strangling with the help of the news stations about the truth of this war. Hooray people we don't need to fight in Iraq or Afghanastan anymore. The terrorists have won. They changed the face of this great nation as we knew it. They and Bush and cheney et.al have brought facism to America. Stand up and cheer.

[LouisPWu]

Just reading that excerpt... Bush should be under the care of a psychiatrist, not running a nation.

[LanguagePolice]

Crazier than Richard Nixon.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Al Qaeda? Meet Al LOON.

[GeoLee]

:^)!

[qdog112]

This not just about a FAILED war effort.

It is about a poorly formed, DEFECTIVE and FATALLY FLAWED foreign policy.

The war is but a component of that foreign policy.

As bad as you can imagine - IT'S WORST!

[LanguagePolice]

That would be "worse" or "the worst". That's a difficult one though. I don't think even Olbermann has it right.

[InjunTrouble]

I hope we never again vote a president into office, who uses expressions like 'Kick Ass',

[LanguagePolice]

Or one that sings "Bomb bomb Iran", or one that uses the term "obliterate".

[nickmantas]

He is f*&%en Rambo

[Henk]

"There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!"

Who the fuck talks like this. Seriously, can you imagine being a professional Soldier on the other end of the line listening to this bullshit? Good Lord, I know this is overused, but every time I think he can't be more of a Jackass something like this comes out. He's the President of the United States for Christ's sake, could he maybe pretend to have some dignity.

[FormerRushListener]

Triumph of the Will.

[calpubserv]

Epitaph on a Tyrant

Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when he cried the little children died in the streets.

W.H. Auden

[awcbuddy8]

good for you: you can read.

[trailblazer]

Bad for you - you can't punctuate.

[thirteen13]

We are the guilty minority with the support of the silent majority.

[terramartom]

Are we not lucky to have Chicken Little running the White House for 8 years?
What a Moronic, ignorant, arrogant fool!!!

[gerardsnj]

I'm just tired of administration officials and generals coming out WAAAY after the fact to tell us NOW what they thought BACK THEN. Where were they when this was all happening and they were being loyal little troopers? It's so frustrating when you think of all that has been lost...

[qdog112]

ONE THING FOR SURE - YOU HAVE NEVER SERVED IN THE US MILITARY.

[soapington]

... unlike our Commander-in-Chief, who wore a borrowed flight-suit with honor and distinction aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

[stamper]

Anyone who spoke against the Pres and/or tried to register a different opinion was marginalized, fired and buried.I believe Sanchez was fired when he had the audacity to disagree. Same re: mcclellan, had he opposed or spoken out about what was going on he would have been fired and buried. these are powerful, scary , unscrupulous people we are dealing with. The only one who i think could have made a difference would have been Powell, had he made a public statement at the UN instead of regurgitating those lies.

[Brebro]

Pure Evil Side Of GWB.

[Vinca]

ToBrebo: Go to this website and sign petition to impeach, if you want,WWW. WEXLERWANT­SHEARINGS.­COM, ALSO PASS IT ON

[Snoop2]

Re: This......­.........
Kick ass!" he quotes the president as saying. "If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! All of this from a drunk who didn't have the ability or the pride of service to honorably complete his national guard duty. This pos will go down in history as a complete a%#hole and all Americans will remember! He must be proud of all the soldiers who died as a result of his ego......! He should be impeached.­..! I am glad someone inside the outhouse finally spoke up even though it was 5 years to late.

[Rosanneofpgh]

I agree. prez fucksupalot SHOULD be impeached.

NANCY PELOSI: ARE YOU LISTENING??!!!

[jerrypenguin]

"Kick ass!," "...we will seek them out and kill them!" "Our will is being tested, but we are resolute." "Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident!" "Prevail!" "We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!" - attributed to George Bush by Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez

This sounds like George Bush. Enough said.

[thirteen13]

The only books I want to read are the legal briefs at the criminal trials of Bush and Chaney.

I am sure the millionairs in charge of the white house have no problem filling up their gas tanks and home heating oil tanks. They don't have the horror of burying the dead from a war of lies and deceipt.

We invaded a country that could not defend itself from our might. We have tortured human beings.
We have desecrated religious objects.

We are the minority of guilt with the support of the silent majority.

[GayGrandpa]

Sadly all you say is too true, and it our leaders who are responsible! Seventy-seven senators voted to support Bush. None of them deserve to be re-elected, that is why from the beginning I would not even consider Hillary! Any one who voted to authorize this war is responsible for gas prices, thousands dead and injured and economy in shambles and maybe for decades! It will cost HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS just to care for the brain injuries, these soldiers, forty thousand will need care for the rest of their lives...SH­AME ON EVERY AMERICAN IN BOTH PARTIES WHO DO NOT HOLD these leaders responsible!