Nice the old Clintonite Generals have feelings. Sorry but there is nothing in their resume that renders them qualified to offer an opinion of any weight on this topic. They have no access to any current intelligence information nor any real specialization in the culture and societies in the Region. All of their operations and intelligence information has not been current since the 1990s. They have absolutely no factual base for this letter.
This is an example of people using their Military title as cover for their Personal Feelings. It useless noise. Just more absurd Leftist Propaganda with a Military Title hung out front to give it credibility
http://nimitz.berkeley.edu/pastspeaker-1999.html
Robert G. Gard, Jr. earned his Master's in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1956 and five years later earned his Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government, from the same school. Since 1981 Mr. Gard has served as Visiting Professor of International Relations (American University in Paris) and Director of the Bologna (Italy) Center at Johns Hopkins University. Last year, Mr. Gard ended eleven years as President of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Since 1967 he has written a number of articles on military leadership and planning, most recently "The Military Utility of Anti-Personnel Land Mines" which appeared as a chapter in Maxwell A. Cameron's To Walk Without Fear: The Global Movement to Ban Landmines.
In 1950 Mr. Gard received his commission in the United States Army with a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. This commission sent him towards 31 years of dedicated service in the Armed Forces and eventually lifted him to the rank of Lieutenant General. During these 31 years, Mr. Gard held a number of command positions including Commander of the 145th Field Artillery and 734th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalions; Executive Assistant to the Secretary of Defense; Director of Human Resources Development, US Army; and Commanding General of Fort Ord, CA, the 7th Infantry Division, and of the US Army Personnel Center. In 1977, Mr. Gard accepted a position as President of the National Defense University in Washington D.C. and retired from this position and the military in 1981.
Mr. Gard has received a number of awards for work both in and out of the military including the Harvard University Charles Sumner Prize (for his doctoral dissertation), the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He received a Harvard Fellowship in its Science and Public Policy Program for 1960-61 and another Fellowship for 1970-71 from the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. In addition, Mr. Gard is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Development Engineering Research Institute, and a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
http://www.cdi.org/aboutcdi/adms.html
Jack Shanahan enlisted in the U.S. Navy prior to the outbreak of World War II and retired in 1977 as a Vice Admiral. During his 35 years of active service he served in the Pacific in World War II, in Korea off the coast, and in Vietnam where he served a number of tours in the Tonkin Gulf as well as a year in country as Commander of the Coastal Surveillance and Interdiction Force (Task Force 115 headquartered in Cam Rahn Bay).
Among other sea assignments, he commanded the U.S. Second Fleet that oversees Naval operations in the Atlantic, with additional duty as the Commander NATO Strike Fleet Atlantic. He also commanded the Guided Missile Destroyer Cochrane, the Destroyer Escort Evans, and served in six other destroyers and missile ships.
Shore assignments included tours as a member of the Chairman's Staff Group, Office of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; as military adviser to the U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Council (NATO); as Fleet Readiness Officer, Staff, U.S. Pacific Fleet; and as Director, Strategic Plans and Policy Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
He graduated from the Naval Intelligence and Foreign Language Schools, the Naval War College, and the University of Hawaii.
In addition to the standard campaign awards, he holds the Joint Chiefs Commendation Medal (two awards), the Legion of Merit (three awards, one with the Combat V), the Distinguished Service Medal (two awards), the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Combat Action Medal.
After his retirement he remained active in national security issues. He testified before the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission in June 1991. He is a member of the commission which, in September 1994, conducted an independent nuclear posture review sponsored by the Committee for National Security/Lawyers Alliance for World Security. He authored the study on "Peace Keeping and Peace Enforcement: The Role of the UN and the US."
He now serves as the Director of the Center for Defense Information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_P._Hoar#Military_career
oar graduated from Tufts University and received a second lieutenant's commission in the Marine Corps in 1957. After graduating from Basic School at Quantico, he was assigned as a rifle platoon commander with the 5th Marine Regiment. Later assignments included duty with 1st Battalion, 1st Marines at Camp Pendleton, battalion staff officer on Okinawa, the Marine Barracks at Yorktown, Virginia and Assistant Manpower, Personnel and Administration Officer at Camp Lejeune.
During the Vietnam War Hoar was assigned with the 2nd Marine Division, commanding Company M, 3rd Battalion of that unit. He later served as a battalion and brigade adviser with a South Vietnamese Marine unit. He then returned stateside, completing a three-year tour of duty in Washington, DC as an operations officer and as Special Assistant to the Assistant Marine Corps Commandant. In 1971, he again went overseas as Executive Officer of [1st Battalion, 9th Marines]].
From 1972-76 Hoar was an instructor at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, later returning to Marine Headquarters where he served in the Personnel Management Division. In 1977, he returned to 1st Marines as commander of its 3rd Battalion, later accepting duty with the Division's staff, where he was promoted to colonel. General Hoar served as 1st Marines regimental commander from 1979-81.
After completing this tour he was assigned to the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit aboard USS Belleau Wood, participating in three deployments in the Indian Ocean. He then returned to the U.S. as Assistant Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Administration, gaining a promotion to brigadier general in February 1984. In 1985, he returned to Washington as Director of the Facilities and Services Division at Marine HQ. 1987 saw Hoar accept a position as Commanding General at the Parris Island recruiting depot; later that year he was promoted to major general.
Hoar moved to MacDill AFB, Florida in 1988 as Chief of Staff for U.S. Central Command. He returned to Headquarters Marine Corps in June of 1990, earning a promotion to lieutenant general while serving there as Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans, Policies and Operations. After a year at this assignment he returned to CENTCOM as its commander on August 9, 1991, relieving General H. Norman Schwarzkopf. He remained in that capacity until his retirement three years later.
While in command of CENTCOM, General Hoar oversaw a number of different operations in the region, including enforcement of the Persian Gulf and Red Sea naval embargo, enforcement of the southern no-fly zone over Iraq, ground operations in Somalia, and American troop evacuation from Yemen during that country's civil war in 1994.