Article

2007-11-25 Iraq

Former US Commander Criticizes Bush on Iraq

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Fred 2007-11-25 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top
File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1 By any chance is Sanchez related to Gen. George McClellan?

Posted by PBMcL 2007-11-25 00:22|| 2007-11-25 00:22|| Front Page Top

#2 If the donks re-take the White House, we'll see this piece of kak again in high places I assure you.

Posted by Besoeker 2007-11-25 01:07|| 2007-11-25 01:07|| Front Page Top

#3 Political reconciliation? The Sunni, Shiite conflict has been going on for 1400 years. So which side is the apostate, Ricki? Maybe Condi can settle that at Annapolis.

Posted by McZoid 2007-11-25 05:24|| 2007-11-25 05:24|| Front Page Top

#4 Sanchez's pride is running riot.

If he would just keep hiz mouth shut he'd recognize that there is a SEASON for all things.. and who the hell woulda guessed that the Sunnis woulda been so short sided, so lacking in savvy, that it took them getting their A$$ BEAT DOWN terrifically for the last 4 years to finally get a clue.

GENERAL SANCHEZ JUST STFU! you didn't do such a bad job... wait and then take some well deserved measured credit for your efforts.

Posted by Red Dawg">Red Dawg 2007-11-25 06:51|| 2007-11-25 06:51|| Front Page Top

#5 Sanchez is obviously bitter as all hell. He did try to implement policy based on what was believed at the time. The trouble was that there was still too much instability for it to work then.

Ironically, General Petraeus is positively brilliant with counterinsurgency tactics, which makes the contrast noticeable. Otherwise, with what Petraeus is accomplishing, when he was done, it would be the time for what Sanchez had been doing.

In other words, they went into Iraq in the wrong order. Petraeus should have gone first, then Sanchez.

As it is, however, Sanchez was just embarrassed. And he is not helping the situation by reminding everybody of the fact.

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-11-25 09:35|| 2007-11-25 09:35|| Front Page Top

#6 General officers can be recalled back to active duty by the direction of the Secretary. The older contract which was probably in force when Sanchez signed the bottom line stipulated that if you accepted a Regular Army commission technically you were obligated for life. Then the little known but still active part of the UCMJ kicks in about disparaging remarks of prez., vp, Senators and governors of states you're serving in, etc. I'm sure Hillary the First wouldn't hesitate a second to have the dudes up before a courts martial.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-11-25 09:43|| 2007-11-25 09:43|| Front Page Top

#7 Petraeus should have gone first, then Sanchez.

The problem Moose is that they continued the 'peacetime' personnel management system. So Petraeus had to get his boxes filled, joint assignment requirements of the Goldwater-Nichols Act [that little gift of Desert One], and the like. There are provisions for Presidential waivers and one would have thought that in 'wartime' a lot of business as usual practices would have been relooked if not outright modified. The entire promotion system is still peacetime. How many of the known best performers in Iraq were jumped ahead of the usual 'year group' promotion machine? None that I'm aware of. The entire bureaucracy suffers from peacetime lock step processes. The best measure of a military leader is on the battlefield, all else should have been pushed aside.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-11-25 09:52|| 2007-11-25 09:52|| Front Page Top

#8 I wonder if Zinni will support Sanchez' run for SecDef.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-11-25 11:31|| 2007-11-25 11:31|| Front Page Top

#9 "That failure continues today," he said. "At its base is the mistaken belief, despite years of evidence to the contrary, that victory can be achieved through the application of military power alone."

It's certainly true that Sanchez was utterly incapable of winning via the application of military power alone.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2007-11-25 12:31|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2007-11-25 12:31|| Front Page Top

23:57 Steve White
23:53 mrp
23:50 Zenster
23:35 Zenster
23:24 twobyfour
23:07 3dc
23:05 McZoid
22:58 JAB
22:45 rjschwarz
22:41 Bright Pebbles
22:40 mrp
22:39 OldSpook
22:33 OldSpook
22:28 OldSpook
22:26 Haliburton - Border Control Divison
22:23 JosephMendiola
22:22 JosephMendiola
22:16 OldSpook
22:08 Anonymoose
22:05 Zenster
22:02 3dc
22:00 Zenster
22:00 Bright Pebbles
21:48 3dc