Posted on 05/22/2004 5:41:40 PM PDT by b4its2late
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gen. Zinni: 'They've Screwed Up' May 21, 2004
Accusing top Pentagon officials of "dereliction of duty," retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni says staying the course in Iraq isn't a reasonable option.
"The course is headed over Niagara Falls. I think it's time to change course a little bit or at least hold somebody responsible for putting you on this course," he tells CBS News Correspondent Steve Kroft in an interview to be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, May 23, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
The current situation in Iraq was destined to happen, says Zinni, because planning for the war and its aftermath has been flawed all along.
"There has been poor strategic thinking in this...poor operational planning and execution on the ground," says Zinni, who served as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command from 1997 to 2000.
Zinni blames the poor planning on the civilian policymakers in the administration, known as neo-conservatives, who saw the invasion as a way to stabilize the region and support Israel. He believes these people, who include Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense, have hijacked U.S. foreign policy.
"They promoted it and pushed [the war]... even to the point of creating their own intelligence to match their needs. Then they should bear the responsibility," Zinni tells Kroft.
In his upcoming book, "Battle Ready," written with Tom Clancy, Zinni writes of the poor planning in harsh terms. "In the lead-up to the Iraq war and its later conduct, I saw, at minimum, true dereliction, negligence and irresponsibility; at worst, lying, incompetence and corruption," he writes.
Zinni explains to Kroft, "I think there was dereliction in insufficient forces being put on the ground and [in not] fully understanding the military dimensions of the plan."
He still believes the situation is salvageable if the United States can communicate more effectively with the Iraqi people and demonstrate a better image to them.
The enlistment of the U.N. and other countries to participate in the mission is also crucial, he says. Without these things, says Zinni, "We are going to be looking for quick exits. I don't believe we're there now, and I wouldn't want to see us fail here."
Also central to success in Iraq is more troops, from the United States and especially other countries, to control violence and patrol borders, he says.
Zinni feels that undertaking the war with the minimum of troops paved the way for the security problems the U.S. faces there now, the violence Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently admitted he hadn't anticipated.
"He should not have been surprised," says Zinni. "There were a number of people who before we even engaged in this conflict felt strongly that we underestimated...the scope of the problems we would have in [Iraq]."
The fact that no one in the administration has paid for the blunder irks Zinni. "But regardless of whose responsibility [it is]...it should be evident to everybody that they've screwed up, and whose heads are rolling on this?"
Zinni is a highly decorated and respected combat veteran and Marine general. What he has said about Iraq has been proven right. Unfortunately, this war has now cost hundreds of American lives, thousands of Iraqi lives, tens of billions of dollars, and some of our good name, as more and more,sadly, come to associate America with Abu Ghraib.
By contrast, the neocons who got us into this war have virtually no military experience and everything they've said about Iraq has been proven wrong. And now it turns out that they were being manipulated by an Iranian agent, Ahmed Chalabi. I'll take Zinni any day.
Well, among his many qaulifications is saying that Ahmed Chalabi, Iranian agent and purveyor of phony intelligence, friend of neocons, was a Rolex-wearing, Rolls-Royce driving phony.
LOL! I guess the only difference between him and Chalabi then would be the Rolls.
I'm sorry, I had to take time out for dinner with the Mrs...
I've decided you're absolutely right...chickenhawk Neo-cons like yourself can conquer the world without the likes of Zinni, Schwarzkopf or any military brass.
Go ahead, make yourself a General and an Admiral too while you're at it.
You seem to have ALL the answers.
VP Out.
I never said that you were. I said that uncritical support for the president isn't what integrity and courage are about.
I don't think the Zinni side would be quite so willing.
I don't know that Zinni has a "side" per se. I think that a good general SHOULD be critical if he thinks that his political masters have made mistakes.
This is not a friggin game! A political tiff or a matter of opinion. Not anymore...................
When was war ever a game, clanner?
Less rhetorically, do you think that a decorated general and a fairly conservative author would co-author a book like this if they didn't think that something was wrong?
Pass her my condolances...she must be a suffering saint.
Are you saying that Zinni was an Iranian agent, too? That he also fed us false intelligence on WMDs, just like Chalabi?
Certainly more troops were required in Afganistan. That is why we achieved our military victory so quickly. Could it be that more troops would have been viewed more negatively by the Iraqi population? So many arm chair generals.
Of course he's a hyprocrit and a blundering fool who caused the death of our sailors. Besides that, he has all the military qualifications there people need to quote him - he's anti-Bush. Isn't it strange that these so-called conservative hold the same military people in high regard as the Democrats do.
Excellent questions. So far as I can tell, they have not been answered.
LOL! Poor snookers there babbles on a lot like that.
No, those are excellent questions. And unless the Bush White House comes up with better answers than "Zinni worked for Clinton," Bush will lose, despite the fact that Kerry is a lying weasel who makes Al Gore look dynamic and charasmatic.
Oh! The right to say something stupid, overrides the need to be silent if you have nothing constructive to say.
I have had enough of it. Just because this guy does not believe in pre-emptive strikes and attempted nation building that is definitely in our national interests, does not give him the right to write the barf down and make money to the detriment of our military! OUR KIDS!
General Barfsalot can wait until we either finish the job or give it up to rail against the Bush admin and to hawk his crummy book!
But hell no! He joins the now long list of perverts who publish their garbage and call it free speech!
I have come almost to the point of going postal about this! The country that I know and defended is not going to tolerate this crap lying down.
I repudiate this man and those like him who do this. They collectively do more damage to this country than a thousand enemies. They are despicable.
Only to someone who considers Zinni a respectable officer, otherwise they are nothing more then whinning by someone still using a go pat go tagline.
Why obviously they are military geniuses...they hate President Bush.
Have you ever noticed how it's only the people who thought candidates such as pat buchanan was the best choice for president give any kind of credit at all to these sorry generals.
We still don't need more troops. The larger numbers piss off the Iraqis and cause them to resent the occupation even more than they rightfully do now. The 200 billion dollar comment was made without authorization and the ass was not supposed to make dollar assessments on a war that has no assessed price. Not even today.
There have been dozens of stories with flowers in them. I guess you never read them.
Questions asked and for the second time answered.
Independents and Libertarians all. All of them are antiwar.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.