Ousted Army Chief Blasts Bush Iraq Policy

WASHINGTON - Thomas E. White, forced to resign as Army secretary in May, has fired back in a book that describes the Bush administration's postwar effort in Iraq (news - web sites) as "anemic" and "totally inadequate."

The book, which presents a blueprint for revitalizing Iraq, asserts that the administration underestimated the difficulty of putting that country back on its feet after the fall of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

"Clearly the view that the war to `liberate' Iraq would instantly produce a pro-United States citizenry ready for economic and political rebirth ignored the harsh realities on the ground," White wrote in a preface to "Reconstructing Eden," which is to be published Thursday.

In a letter to news organizations announcing the book's release, White was even tougher on the administration. "Unbelievably, American lives are being lost daily," he wrote. White said the administration lacks a cohesive, integrated plan to stabilize and rebuild the country.

"We did not conduct the war this way and we should not continue rebuilding the country in a haphazard manner," he wrote. "The result will be a financial disaster, more lives lost, chaos in Iraq and squandered American goodwill."

White, who as a civilian service secretary was not in the military chain of command, served as Army secretary from May 2001 to May 2003. He clashed with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on a number of issues, including the service's plan for the Crusader artillery system, which Rumsfeld viewed as too heavy and cumbersome for the lighter, more agile Army he envisioned.

A Defense Department spokesman, Lt. Col. Jim Cassella, said that as a matter of policy the department does not comment on books. He acknowledged that U.S. occupation authorities in Baghdad face severe problems with security in Iraq but believe they are on track toward success.

"It is quite clear in the immediate aftermath of hostilities that the plan for winning the peace is totally inadequate," he wrote.

White wrote that the administration's Iraq policy "threatens to turn what was a major military victory into a potential humanitarian, political and economic disaster." The administration's "anemic attempts at nation building" will be viewed with disdain by other countries, he said.

White is a co-author of the book with three associates of CountryWatch Inc., a Houston firm that describes itself as a provider of global information to businesses, schools and government organizations.

The authors say U.S. troops ought to remain in Iraq until June 2005, and they estimate that by then the total cost of the war and the occupation would be about $150 billion, including money to revitalize the Iraqi oil industry.

White submitted his resignation on April 25. Later it became known that Rumsfeld had forced the resignation. White left May 9; his replacement, James Roche, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.

While saying there is still a chance to make a success of postwar Iraq, White wrote in his book that the record on U.S. efforts at rebuilding Afghanistan (news - web sites), which it invaded in October 2001, is "dismal."

Afghanistan, he said, is experiencing a resurgence of Taliban influence and rule by warlords. He criticized "artificial caps" that the administration placed on U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, where about 9,600 American forces are now engaged in combat and stability operations.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0305/S00065.htm

DoD Insiders On The Demise Of Thomas E. White
Monday, 12 May 2003, 10:51 am
Column: Jason Leopold

DoD Insiders On The Demise Of Thomas E. White

By Jason Leopold
Two weeks ago, Secretary of Defense fired Thomas White, who was tapped by President Bush two years ago as Secretary of the Army. Today, White, the former vice chairman of Enron Corp., the disgraced energy company that imploded in a wave of accounting scandals two years ago, leaves the Pentagon for good.

In the two years White spent at the Pentagon he is credited with nothing other than taking up space.

White’s dismissal barely made a sound in the media. Newspapers ran wire copy of his "resignation" and chalked it up to his frequent run-ins with Rummy over disagreements in transforming the army.

But that’s not an accurate portrayal nor is it the true reason White was canned, according to a half-dozen senior Pentagon officials interviewed between April 26 and May 7.

Simply put, the Enron scandal tainted White as soon as it became common knowledge that he contacted dozens of his former colleagues after the company collapsed and failed to unload the bulk of his stock after he became Secretary of the Army.

His job security became further strained when the FBI launched an investigation of White last year into allegations of insider trading. White’s phone conversations with his Enron buddies took place shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. and while military personnel were being sent to break up the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Pentagon officials said White never disclosed to Rumsfeld that he phoned his former colleagues and that the Bush administration only learned of it when it was reported by the media.

Neither White nor his spokesman returned calls for comment.

Moreover, internal Enron memos surfaced in 2001 that described in detail how Enron Energy Services, the division White ran, manipulated the electricity market in California over a two-year period.

White maintained his innocence in testimony last year before a Senate committee investigating Enron’s collapse and its role in California’s electricity crisis that he was unaware of the financial shenanigans that took place at Enron. It has since been well documented, however, that EES, under the leadership of White, contributed heavily to Enron’s collapse and that so-called profits at the unit were illusory.

White has not yet responded to a written inquiry from Congressman Henry Waxman, D-California, how EES booked a $1.3 billion profit from a contract the unit signed with Eli Lilly even though Enron paid the pharmaceutical company $50 million in cash as an incentive to sign the contract and hid this fact from investors and the public.

White’s signature is on the approval sheets and he earned a hefty bonus from the Eli Lilly deal despite the fact Enron Energy Services never performed any of the services described in the contract.

The internal documents related to White’s role in approving EES’ byzantine contracts and partnerships can be viewed at:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0211/S00018.htm

One senior Pentagon official said White was close to being fired by Rummy soon after the Enron scandal broke in late 2001, but advisers to Bush cautioned Rummy that doing so could tarnish, “the office of the president.”

“Instead of asking Secretary White to resign, Secretary Rumsfeld just made his life miserable,” the Pentagon defense official, who requested anonymity, said. “He didn’t allow Secretary White to make any decisions on his own on matters relating to the army.”

A spokesman for Rumsfeld would not comment on private conversations that, “may or may not have”, taken place between the two.

White complained to Rumsfeld several times, another defense official said, about being kept out of the loop on matters related to transforming the army but Rummy rebuffed White and frequently took it upon himself to make decisions to reshape the army.

White only made things worse for himself when he used a military aircraft for personal use and went behind Rummy’s back by telling members of Congress that the army supported the now cancelled $11 billion Crusader artillery program, a weapons system that Rummy said publicly last year needed to be cancelled so the military could invest in other futuristic weapons systems

“Once he did that it was only a matter of time before Secretary Rumsfeld fired him,” a senior Pentagon official, who worked closely with White said. “Secretary White knew it and so did everyone who worked with him.”

This smegma deposit was Shinseki's stooge, as well as being more crooked than ninety miles of Afghan camel track. His loyalty wasn't, and isn't, to the soldiers (ha) or the country (ya gotta be kiddin') but to his insider buddies.

This book was predictable... and the pathetic worm couldn't even write it himself. He had to do a Hillary! and bring in more writers than extras in a Cecil B De Mille bible epic. I predict the book will vanish without a trace. If a book goes plonk into an ocean of public indifference, does it make a sound? White's fifteen minutes of fame are long since up.

Rick Shinseki, on the other hand, is about to resurface as the junior Senator from Hawaii. This is the guy that brought you the black beret, the Army of One, and a bitter rear-guard fight against realistic basic training. In an Army full of closet Clintonistas, this guy had the very worst case of Monica envy... and he's gonna be baaaack. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

I can't say I'm supportive of either one of them (Shinseki's 'Monica' berets) but I believe they have made good points vs. Rumsfield on both the direction of the Army and the force levels needed in Iraqistan.

It's simply boneheaded to give up tube artillery and M1A2s in favor of light forces and air power. That equates to casualties for us and success for our enemies. IMO Rummie is counting bean$ and that's bad news for our troops and their missions. The Soviets tried the light-mobile with their Airborne troops in Afghanistan and Chechnya and were mauled. Mogadishu should have been a lesson learned but apparently not to Rumsfield since no B-2s were lost.

Every light vehicle destroyed by an RPG, landmine, hand grenade, suicide bomber, etc. costs us casualties and erodes our morale while at the same time it boosts the esteem, morale and cause of our attackers. Martyrdom is a very bad situtation to permit among muslims particularly if it inflicts casualties as there is a religious justification for it. Smouldering HummVees and Strykers are no good to our morale either. Otoh being squashed by a tank after an RPG barely scratches the paint isn't a good bet for heaven.

There is no martyrdom for the Muslim in suicide. Let's do our part to keep it that way.

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