“Has some advisor that was running the whole show gone? Or were they just faking us out until they could get re-elected for a second term? Did they not believe these things they told us? Has something changed that they are not telling us about? I just feel so left out of the process, I feel like I’m in the dark here - this is horrible!
It’s like they’ve been replaced with pod people.”
When Bush listened to Rumsfield it went good regarding national attack plans. When he turned to Rumsfield on managing the post-invasion, it went bad. Rumsfield is limited in his expertise which is the Cold War era and ground invasions, not occupations. Rumsfield & Cheney gave poor advice about Vietnam to their superiors. Now Bush is listening to two people on his cabinet that are BOTH incompetent in this area about Iran and no Rumsfield to boot on an invasion strategy to overthrow the mullahs.
Bush doesn’t have an evil scheme, he models himself after Reagan who had an all star cabinet and the balls to back it up with actions EVERY time, Reagan was ‘compassionate’ ONLY when the enemy had completely surrendered... I hope I helped...
I believe this assessment to be faulty, but somewhat popular on FR and, certainly, in the media.
In order to make this post relatively short, yet provide the maximum supporting facts and information that I and some other FReepers have made on this subject, instead of repeating them in this post, I will provide links to the threads where they are shown. Not surprisingly, I participated in most of these threads. The threads are reasonably short to peruse, yet there is a lot of great factual material and excellent thoughtful analysis beyond the usual gratuitous statements by usual posters regarding the "usual suspects". BTW, if you remember, according to al-media, Condi at various times apparently was at odds and/or not on speaking terms with Rumsfeld, Gates or Cheney. All, like many other stories, proved to be bunk, simply a way for media to soil Condi's or Rumsfeld's or Cheney's reputation with Republican base.
First, Rumsfeld wasn't the one to "manage" the post-invasion, his choice for that was Lt. General Jay Garner who didn't last a month and had quite different plan from Paul Bremer (a State Dept "career professional" under then-Secretary Powell and his deputy Armitage) who micromanaged the CPA and overwrote several military decisions during occupation period, before elections and transfer of control to Iraqi government. Most of the "mistakes" were made then. BTW, the decision to "disband" Saddam's Army and consequent de-Baathification was not one of them - it correctly followed WWII example, and there was nothing left to "disband".
What Bremer Got Wrong in Iraq - particularly posts #1, #2, #21
Rumsfeld and Condi are both good students of history and Cold War and understand exactly what we need now, and that's why Rumsfeld was trying to restructure the military, make it leaner and rely more on Marines and Special Operations Forces on the ground along with high-tech Air Force and Navy while deemphasizing our already-thin "boots on the ground" Army forces (due to strains of funding and nature of conflict issues). In light of frail and failing 20th Century alliances like NATO or SEATO, Rummy and Condi and Cheney developed and successfully executed a concept of 21st Century - Coalitions of the Willing (COW) - that is far more flexible and sustainable.
The Italian Job - #7 - end
How to Win in Iraq-and How to Lose - particularly #2, #3, #4, #7, #9, #14, #18, #24 Fallback strategy for Iraq: train locals, draw down forces -
GOP Lawmakers: Loyalty to Bush May Hurt - particularly #29, #33, #39, #41
Re Gates: he is no Rumsfeld but he could be easily confirmed and he is smooth enough for the Hill, and professional enough that he would not be likely to do much damage by freelancing without clearing it with JCOS and President.
Re Rice:
Rice: U.S. Not Preparing for War Vs Iran - particularly #19, #41
Perle: Bush Failed by his Own People - particularly #16, #20, #25, #26
How Rice Uses History Lessons -
Rice helped unfreeze N Korean funds (Condi=Maddie) - particularly #8, #11, #18, #25, #28
Rice says missiles no threat to Russia - particularly #10