Posted on 04/13/2006 3:55:30 PM PDT by jmc1969
The commander who led the elite 82nd Airborne Division during its mission in Iraq has joined the chorus of retired generals calling on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to leave the Pentagon.
"I really believe that we need a new secretary of defense because Secretary Rumsfeld carries way too much baggage with him," retired Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack told CNN's Barbara Starr on Thursday.
He also suggested other changes among the top brass at the Pentagon.
"I think we need senior military leaders who understand the principles of war and apply them ruthlessly, and when the time comes, they need to call it like it is,".
"Specifically, I feel he has micromanaged the generals who are leading our forces there," Swannack said in the telephone interview.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
And what intellectually honest standards are those??? Iraq is very close to falling into all out civil war. The Iranians have a strong influence over the Shiites and there is a very good possibility that Iran will be more influential in Iraq than the US. So much for building a pro-Western Democracy!
Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Wolfowitz have made obscene miscalculations about Iraq. There predictions have been dead-wrong and, forgive me, everything now sounds like spin rather than getting the job done.
It is still too early to say whether the mission in Iraq will succeed or fail but how can you think that it is currently successful?
Keep something else in mind and this goes directly to the qualifications of the people wearing those stars. We had roughly the same number of generals/admirals in WWII that we do today. The difference is during WWII our military was 12,000,000 strong...today it's only 1,400,000. When it comes to drawing down our military the various alumni mutual protection societies have made sure it hasn't impacted them. So we now have generals and admirals doing the work previously done by 0-6's.
Document one miscalcualtion from each (and I do mean document, don't just rant).
I was talking to a volunteer there who had been B-52 aircrew...just like his father. In some ways I look at the BUFF much as I did the Iowa Class...as you say, I don't want to be anywhere near their deliveries. The BUFF is still excellent for plowing large portions of restate but only where there are no air defenses.
Hello, honey.
Yes, my son bailed, very discouraged. He went in thinking that serving our nation was his true calling, and was so honored to have made the cut to attend West Point.... but, having loved it there, and having done very well there, he then found the reality of real life in the Army a lot less impressive than the ideals he had been taught ... I guess we can say that Clinton happened, and you have no idea how demoralized the young men that have graduated in the years since that administration have been! He saw total "incompetent leaders getting promoted" , and he had been trained to recognize good leaders, and knew how to spot the gold from the dross...
My son cared about leading soldiers, not promotions. He was/is astute enough to know that success in the Army seems to depend on which way the political wind blows. He didn't care for leaving the lives of his soldiers up to the whims of politicians, even though he was a very good military man. As a young officer, he worried the most about how to motivate and encourage the men under his leadership, and the changes made during that sorry administration had horrible affects on the morale of his enlisted soldiers)...
He didn't want to have to serve under leaders who cared more about politics and promotions than the troops they were called by their sacred oath to care for.
So, he left, with regret that he still feels to this day, got himself into Harvard Business School, and figured that at least people wouldn't die under his leadership... (picked the company very carefully!)...because of cr@p coming from DC.
I had hoped never to see the equivalent of "management by objectives" (a la McNamara) in our time again. Once is enough, right? I still hope that my son's service for over 10 years has meaning. But I am very worried, because while I still fly the flag proudly, for all the risks he took, and the men who trusted him and all who went before him, I am caught up short by his concerns.
However, I keep my mouth shut, hope, pray and support all our brave young men and women, who took that precious oath to uphold and support our Constitution.
Please, Lord, smack the "egos' in DC down hard and fast with an out-of-control Semi-tractor trailer , if they are exercising an agenda that is not Your Will, or maybe worse, an deceptive "modern" philosophy!
I heard someone say Iowa Class ...
A toast to the USS Missouri!
Our rate of loss is a statistical anomally. We loose 50,000 citizens to car accidents each year, If that is sustainable year after year then I think under 1000 a year to keep the wolf at bay (while we get our house in order) is pretty good. If the MSM had something else to occupy their feeble minds (or they got some Patriotism) this would not even be an issue and we would have wiped Syria's ass with the Mullahs headgear by now.
LOL! I just pinged you on another thread.
Getting ready to defend the Mullahs
I had the pleasure of a tour of her just before she left Bremerton for Hawaii. A friend of mine is a military historian and was given the opportunity to go through her as they were prepping her for the two...she as closed to the public at the time. He took me along as his "assistant", which translated to the person driving and buying lunch...but it was worth it.
Somehow a piece of teak from her deck ended up in my camera bag (she was still in preserved condition so the decks weren't in very good shape).
I'll drink to that! (and her three pretty sisters)
I was sad to see her leave Bremerton, because she's always had a special connection with that town. At the same time, I know she would never get the visitors (hence care) in Bremerton that she would at Pearl.
The wife and I have visited her in Pearl and I have to admit that I do think putting her near the Arizona was the right decision; where it all started and ended for us.
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