[RobbyS]

Since last summer the State Department and the CIA , not DoD have been calling the shots. People forget who Bremer is.

[Who dat?]

Perhaps I’m nitpicking, but when I hear reports (at the time) and speeches (after the fact) that “military leaders on the ground made the decision to (whatever)” and that it was a “military decision,” and then later it comes out that rather than actually being a military decision, they were simply doing what they’d been told, it strikes me as odd. Not odd that they’d do what they’re told, but odd that they’d be portrayed as the ones that came up with it.

Also wasn’t aware that the Iraqi Governing Council made military decisions with respect to the USMC and where they are deployed and what they do (though it would explain a good many things). In fact, it sounds like a 100% pure political decision (to all resign unless Marines get out) to me.

The “biting their tongues and doing what they were told” is a direct quote from the retired Marine on the radio. It implies, to me (implies hell – he flat out said Marines were disgusted and flat-out peeved over it), that they were doing what they were told without liking doing it. That implies, to me, that they would have much preferred doing things differently. That, in turn, implies that if they’d been left to make decisions on their own, this particular one wouldn’t have been chosen.

So all in all it sounds like a misrepresentation of the facts to say the Marines made a military decision in this instance, at the very least. That’s all…

[Magnum44]

I think it’s sort of interesting that following orders constitutes a “military decision,” no?

When GWB says it was a military decision, that is true. CentCom is responsible for all actions in Iraq. The POTUS vests CentCom with a very broad set of goals (liberate the Iraqi people, provide security for the new Iraqi government, etc) and it is up to CentCom to decide how to best carry this out. The Area Combatant Commanders, next to the president himself, are arguably the most powerful individuals in the world. Most media and general citizenry don't understand this.

the State Department and the CIA , not DoD have been calling the shots...

No, CentCom has been calling the shots. And he answers only to SecDef and POTUS. If anyone, CIA, State, anyone, wants to operate in his theatre, they better have his permission.