ff Richard Myers is the former Joint Chiefs of Sta
Richard Myers is the former Joint Chiefs of Staff
Myers was only Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and in on every facet of the planning.
What does he know?
How dare he question a pundit who doesn’t know the difference between a lieutenant and a lieutenant general.
/sarc
Regarding troop needs for Iraq. In Jan. 2003 after the fuss over Shinsecki saying we should have 350,000 troops, I asked my son who served in Gulf War 1 from August 9, 1990 to April 1991 how many troups we should have. Remember this was two months before the war started. He said we should have 450,000. This estimate was very close to the 1/2 million that Bremer (sp?) concluded we should have had after a year trying to run the place.
Subsequently, my son served with a special forces unit in Afghanistan, where he was thoroughly disgusted with failures and loss of momentum in that war theatre.
The President had to start the war that spring before the intense heat of summer began especially as we feared gas warfare and the need for protective (hot) suits. Otherwise he would have had to wait until fall which would have put the war too close to the 2004 election to be politically advisable. The result is that there was no time to build up to the necessary troop levels that many military men seemed to think were needed. The top military may have grumbled, but once the dye was cast they shut up and soldiered. Now we have to live (or die) with the results.
I had the pleasure of briefing Gen Meyers on Missile Defense topics some years ago. He is sharp. Let’s see...trust the generals (who are far, far sharper than anything you see in the movies)...or trust a journalist.....hmmmmmmmm.
Let’s face it. Generals were carefully selected for their roles in this war by Rumsfeld and the Neocons. Rummy didn’t want Shinseki to have a major role in this war because of his belief in overpowering strength, therefore a need for 400,000 troops, a belief also held by General Powell. Shinseki was allowed to retire after being rebuked by the Neocons, Powell was put in the State Department. Rummy wanted generals running the war who were somewhat inexperienced and could be controlled by the 8,000 mile screwdriver in Washington. Clearly, the outcome of this war is in the lap of Rumsfeld.
Clearly, Rumsfeld’s experiments in designing boutique brigades,and the so-called expensive transformation and letting Naval, Marine and even Air Farce Generals run an Army war has been very destructive to the Army.