Posted on 05/01/2006 6:40:58 AM PDT by NotchJohnson
You got it wrong, Jim. He is being sarcastic and laying the blame for failed diplomacy at Powell's feet - where it belongs.
Powell was a footdragger from the get-go. Like Shinseki, he would not have gone to war without a build up like 1991, in Iraq OR Afghanistan. But in 1990 we had a very large force in Europe. One can ask Powell, OK, if Shinski was right, we could have occupied Iraq in 1991. Why didn't you? Because the "realists" in the Bush I administration were perfectly willing to let Saddam stay in place as a check on the Iranians. It was assumed that as in the case of Libya, Iraq would have minded its manners, maybe replacing Saddam with someone else But they didn't know their boy. Twelves years later he was still in power and on the verge of breaking the embargo.
Determining troop levels is the responsibility of the commanding generals involved and the Secretary of Defense, not the Secretary of State. Of course, Powell's views should have been (and probably were) considered, but when the generals and SecDef hold a different view, theirs overrides his, as it should.
The problem was all logistics, you can't put ten pounds of flour in a five pound bag. Turkey could have allowed the 4th ID, that would have added 25k+ in the Kirkuk-Mosul area that has been a major insurgency area largely because abandoned Iraqi bases there were raided for munitions.
Launching from Kuwait gave us no room for the massive supplies needed for a larger operation. We pushed through as many troops as could be fed and moved.
We had not spent many years preparing for this fight, thanks Bill Clinton, ya idiot. Did he never think we needed an end game for Iraq? That's where much of the blame lies, when 9/11 hit we weren't ready for the degree of deployments soon to come.
I agree 7thson.......and by the way we did see that. Patton was what every military man should aspire to be. His men would have walked over hot coals for him....matter of fact, that would have probably been easier compared to what they did go through. Point is, he knew how to win......wars and the respect of his men. Few and far between nowadays.
That could be his ticket -- McCain/Powell. Turns my stomach.
That could be his ticket -- McCain/Powell. Turns my stomach.
“Powell has a reputation of being fiercely loyal to the United States and to the Commander-in-Chief.”
If that’s true, he just trashed it. I would bet this “reputation” has been inaccurate all along.
“It is true that Powell did want more troops and stated this in 2002.”
And it’s true that Powell was wrong in 2002. We have never been outmanned in Iraq.
“He was wounded in Vietnam for Christ's sake.”
Then he should cut out the unpatriotic talk.
“Why discredit an American who served with honor?”
Serving with honor in the past is not a free ticket for unrestrained traitorous behavior in the future.
It is not treason to discuss the overall strategy of a war in a democracy. Powell's comments may be distasteful and erroneous, but he is not treasonous.
I know people who know General Powell, and say he is a very good and upright man in his private character. To bandy charges of treason in these cases trivializes treason.
He is wrong. Can we leave it at that? Must we as conservatives constantly go to the level of petty abuse that we would hear on Air America or would read on DU?
Your overuse of the word treason is conspicuous. Notice that I didn’t use the word, because at this point treason is not my focus. Definitely traitorous and unpatriotic though.
What good does Powell think his comments will do? Spoken in this time when he is not part of the administration, they can only be politically motivated. His words certainly undermine Bush’s Iraq policy, arguably contributing to more American deaths in that they embolden the enemy.
If restraint is called for, it should be the naysayers who pipe down. The “petty abuse” is perpetrated by those who want to turn our military victory in Iraq into a political defeat at home.
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