George W. Bush has now made one of the
most appalling speeches in presidential
history, comparing himself to Franklin D.
Roosevelt and Harry Truman and making
charges against his opponents that should
not be dignified by repeating.
It is time to set the record straight. Those
who President Bush was really attacking
were his commanders, his former Secretary
of State, leaders of the NATO alliance among
many others who have warned him of dangers
and urged him to change course.
Time and time again, itemized in detail below,
George Bush has shown contempt for his
commanders, disrespected their advice,
demeaned them publicly and privately, and
taken action after action that directly harmed the safety of our troops
and caused great damage to the mission and our national
security.
In the Washington Post of September 26 I
was both honored and outraged to read four
full pages of American heroes lost in action
in Iraq.
Honored because these young men and women, many of them 18 to 21 years
of age, black, white, hispanic, asian, are truly the best that America
has to offer. There are not words
to fully express the honor they bring in the
long line of American patriots, from the days
of the Continental Army until every next
morning in the America they defend for us.
Outraged because these American heroes
deserved a damn sight better than they
have gotten from the politicians in Washington
and the nation that celebrates its tax cuts and
housing bubbles while their blood is shed
in the sands of the Middle East
What we have witnessed on a massive scale
is a dereliction of duty of unparalleled proportion, from those who sent
these young men and women to war, where they heroically did their duty,
while politicians used them as
cannon fodder for partisanship while committing derelictions of duty
that did them great harm.
On issue after issue our hyper-partisan president has abused both the
chain of command and his trust as commander in chief.
Congress should conduct televised public hearings, now, that would bring
every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, every commander of the Iraq
mission, and a significant number of
enlisted men and women who have served in Iraq, to testify publicly and
fully about what they truly believe about what should be done now.
They should be put under oath, not to question
their truthfulness, but to protect them from any more abusive pressure
or misrepresentation from civilians in the Administration or Congress.
And if Congress and our President can agree
on any one thing, they should award a special
and subtantial hardship bonus to every man
and woman who has served in Iraq and in
the cases of those who have left us, to their
families who honor them, and make us proud
to be their neighbors and fellow patriots.
It high time we end this abuse of command influence, these attempts by
the President
and Secretary of Defense to ignore the
advice of commanders, and to threaten or
intimidate them into not speaking out, and
then to publicly misrepresent their views.
I dare any Republican, I dare any conservative,
I dare any neoconservative to put their name
on paper and challenge any one of these blunt
and true assertions:
This whole Iraq venture began when our
commanders presented a war plan that
would have required 400,000 troops.
I challenge the President and his partisans:
Is it not true that our commanders were bullied,
beaten down and rudely and unprofessionally
treated to force them into a war plan that
they believed had far too troops for the mission?
Did our commanders not despise the
shameful, unethical, and abusive treatment
of General Eric Shinseki when he tried to
warn us and was treated with ridicule and
abuse by the neocons and our President?
Did it not do real damage for morale when
General Shinseki was forced into early
retirement while George Tenet and others
who failed were given the Presidential Medal
of Freedom?
Did not our commanders repeatedly, time
and again throughout this venture, advise
against inadequate troop strength, then
be ordered to stop advocating what they
believe is right, and read in the newspapers
our President promising, falsely, that he always
gives the commanders the troop levels they
believe they need?
Do you not admit that at the very beginning
of this unfortunate venture, grave damage
was done to this mission by ignorant words
and ignorant policies by a smirking President
and arrogant Secretary of Defense when
they spoke of Old Europe, when they made
snide and condescending comments about
NATO, when they guaranteed that this mission
would never have the support that President
George Herbert Walker Bush, who they also
demeaned in the media at that time, achieved
for the first Gulf War.
Do you not now admit with humble apologies
you committed a grave injustice, and did real
harm to our troops, when those with zero combat experience insulted a
long list of
retired generals as "armchair generals",
when they spoke truth to power, and in fact spoke for a majority of
active duty generals,
despite false statements by ideologues and
partisans to the contrary.
Did not our commanders warn against the
failure to provide equipment that was so extreme and so dangerous that
the Marine Corps pathologist found that up to 70% of our casualties were
preventable, meaning their serious injuries and deaths were not caused
by their mistakes, or the enemy's success,
but by derelictions of duty on a massive scale by those who sent them to
war but disrespected
the advice of commanders.
Is it not true that our commanders time and
again sought help, which was denied, to provide body armor, fortified
vehicles, helmets,
bandages and other equipment that civilian
officials failed to provide, despite repeated,
and false, claims that they always gave the
commanders what those commanders sought.
Did our commanders not unanimously and
aggressively oppose the use of torture which
they unanimously and aggressively believe creates danger for our troops,
tarnishes our reputation around the world, creates new terrorists and
violates cardinal rules of war that they hold sacred?
Is it not 100% true that the torture practices
advocated by this President directly disrespect
two centuries of good advice and military
ethics and directly violate the advice and
good judgment of commanders today?
Is it not true that our commanders were
repeatedly and aggressively subject to abusive
interference, and pressure from civilians that
would be grounds for court martial, if it did not
come from the President, Vice President and
Secretary of Defense?
Is it not true that every commander is appalled
and sickened by proposals to cut spending for
brain injuries for wounded troops?
Is it not true that commanders and enlisted
men are disgusted that civilian leaders have
allowed a situation to continue that almost
20% of active duty troops face such extreme
financial hardship they are forced to pay
predatory lenders interest rates from 300%
to nearly 800%?
Do you not confess that it is an unpardonable
dereliction of duty that this is ever allowed to happen, to even one man
or woman who
wears the uniform of our country?
Is it not true that commanders were disgusted
and appalled that they were ordered to never
again say our leaders needed a post war plan
for Iraq, and privately disgusted that they were
threatened and bullied and told they would be
fired by those who started a war with too few troops, and continued an
occupation with too much too corruption, and then demeaned the
commanders who proposed a plan?
Is it not true that our commanders were
appalled by the misuse and misrepresentation
of intelligence that is so essential in deciding
whether to wage war, and how conduct it, once
it begins?
Do you deny that our commanders urgently
requested reinforcements at Tora Bora when
we could have killed Bin Laden and were
outraged when the cavalry did not come to
finish the kill, but were sent to Iraq instead
by a President who always claimed, falsely,
that he followed his commanders advice and
now claims, falsely, that his political opponents offer nothing but cut
and run which he, himself, did at Tora Bora?
Do you dispute that from day one commanders
urged a far more visionary and serious effort
for reconstruction of Afghanistan and warned, correctly, that if this
were not forthcoming, which it was not, that the Taliban would come
back, and the war lords and drug lords would triumph, which they have?
Do you not admit that our commanders were
appalled that Republican operatives and
Republican contributors were chosen for
lucrative Iraq Reconstruction projects that
saw at least $10 billion wasted, stolen and
lost?
Do you not confess that our troops were
gravely hurt by stolen money in corrupt
contracts and crony deals, when that money
should have gone to protect our troops, and
help Iraqis who's hearts and minds we need
to win?
Do you not admit that our commanders
are appalled by scandal and negligence
so rampant that the Iraqi police academy
will have to be torn apart because urine
and feces drip down on recruits, while
corruption runs rampant among Iraqi
police where many do not do their jobs,
others shoot to kill Americans, and our
troops suffer casualties doing the jobs
that Iraqi police have refused to do, for
all these years of the misbegotten venture?
Do you not confess that our commanders are
appalled that Iraqi politicians are unwilling
and unable to deal with murdering militias,
who have stepped into the void created by
the failure of Iraq police to stand up, and
who spend half their time committing sectarian
murder against each other, and the other half
planning the murder of American troops?
Do you believe it serves democracy, our
commanders or our troops when more than
60% of Iraqis support the killing of American
troops, and more than 70% want our troops
to leave within range of a year?
Do you question my assertion that time and
time again, on issue after issue, at great cost
to the mission and the troops, commanders
faced political pressure and abuse, and were threatened not to speak
their minds, while civilian leaders put on their American flag pins and
went to their 4 of July picnics and stated, falsely, shamefully, that
the commanders agree
with every decision the civilians made, and get everything they
privately ask for?
Is it not true today, that our commanders
believe we need more American and NATO
forces in Afghanistan?
Is it not true today, that our commanders will
be forced to even greater distortions of
troop rotations in Iraq, and that if the status
quo continues unabated, some of the ten
year old children we see on playgrounds
today, will someday serve in Iraq based on
the "stay the course" contingency plans that remain active today?
Do you not admit that the Senate Intelligence
Committee report that you want covered up
until after the election will countless false
statements by high level officials who failed
to tell the truth, about what was in the true
interest of our troops?
Do you not agree that because of the stresses
and distortions of our global force structures
from this misbegotten and mismanaged
venture our commanders believe there are
major dangers in trouble spots around the
world, that we could be unable to address
under current conditions?
Do you concede that our current Chief of Staff
of the Army is courageously resisting political
pressures and refusing to support a budget he
believes is bogus, and is fighting with honor
for what he believes our troops in fact need?
Do you not admit that our commanders are
asking for far more money than you have
told the public, to replace outworn and often
destroyed equipment that must urgently be
replaced to protect the security of the Nation,
and maintain a credible military deterrent,
around the world.
Do you not accept the incontrovertible fact
that our entire American intelligence community
believes that the current Iraq war strategy
is creating new terrorists, more terrorists,
and great dangers and that our commanders
have long been fighting like hell for policies
that address political, diplomatic, economic
and humanitarian issues that have been so
devastatingly neglected by civilian leaders,
over the objection of our commanders?
Do you not agree that our commanders are
deeply offended by the spectacle of the
leader of one our major "allies", Pakistan,
making a deal that gives sanctuary to
terrorists in parts of his nation, and then
comes to Washington, and refuses to answer
questions, because he has a book deal with
his publisher, which takes priority over American lives?
Do you admit that the commanders and
officer corps who have long advocated more
effective reconstruction for Afghanistan are
disgusted to see a Presidential dinner where
leaders of two of our most important "allies"
insult and demean each other, while our
President sits at the table between them,
five years after 9-11, looking like a pitiful
and helpless spectator?
And do you not confess and admit that our
commanders are appalled that ideologues
run to talk shows and political speeches,
and blow the winds of war from the lips of
those who have done enough damage to our military for a lifetime, who
have no experience
in war themselves, but talk of a new war here,
and a new war there, as though war is a dinner
party discussion, or cheap talk show talk?
Do you not admit that it would be better for
our commanders, for our troops, for our
security if our entire nation was asked to
contribute to whatever war effort we
undertake together?
Do you not agree is it shameful that 1% of our country makes close to
100% of the sacrifice, that some are asked to die in Arabia while others
guzzle gas in their cars, that some give their lives and limbs for our
country while others enjoy tax cuts, discuss housing bubbles, and watch
oil executives pocket hundreds of millions of dollars of personal
wealth?
I am madder than hell because on issue after
issue, the commanders have been right, the
civilians have been wrong, the commanders
have been ignored or disrespected, while the
civilians use the troops as partisan weapons,
then fail to provide the troops what they need,
an inexcusable dereliction.
I dare any conservative, I dare any Republican,
I dare any neoconservative to put pen to paper,
and stand up with honor, and put your name
and reputation behind it, and tell me which of
these assertions you claim is not true.
Therefore: to initiate the long overdue debate
and end these shameful derelictions of duty,
Congress should call nationally televised
hearings that would bring our Joint Chiefs
of Staff, our commanders and representative
enlisted men and women to public testimony
to tell the country what they really believe.
With no more political influence, no more spin
and no more pressure, no more partisan abuse
and no more threats, no more lies and no more
speeches by our president that demean the
presidency, and divide the Nation, and further
endanger the troops, and further alienate and
anger the free world.
Now with the intelligence estimate made
public for all the world to see, we know the
facts they truly believe. With a new book coming out by Bob Woodward,
which will
add to the tales of misrepresentation, failure and abuse. With a
country that hungers for leadership and for integrity and honor in
Washington, let us end this dereliction of
duty that has gone on, for far too long, at too great a cost, with too
much blood, with too many dead, with too much damage done to
our country.
We owe a debt to every man and woman who
has ever served our country, to every man and
woman who serves anywhere in the world
today, and to every man and woman who will
ever serve as guardian of our freedom to be the
best that we can be ourselves, and to be the
best that we can be, for them.
We must not be remembered as a generation
that fell to dereliction, we should aspire to be
a generation that will pay the price to reach
for greatness, to leave the young who follow
us, the world that they deserve.