Even More U.S. Generals Blast Rumsfeld Over Iraq, Call for Replacement

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

The war in Iraq is a disaster, and Rumsfeld needs to be replaced. But don't just take our word for it - this reiteration comes today from a pair of recently retired two-star army generals with more than sixty years of military experience between them. They testified today in a hearing before the Democratic Policy Committee, called in absence of adequate official hearings in Congress.

Despite an open invitation to leaders, the only elected Republican to attend the hearing was Rep. Walter Jones, a self-described conservative from North Carolina, who has become one of the strongest critics of the war after originally voting to authorize it.

Major General John Batiste said that he is a life-long Republican and was on the verge of getting his third star, but retired after deciding he could do more for his soldiers out of uniform than in it. "Bottom line, our nation is in peril, our Department of Defense’s leadership is extraordinarily bad, and our Congress is only today, more than five years into this war, beginning to exercise its oversight responsibilities," he said.

"Secretary Rumsfeld’s dismal strategic decisions resulted in the unnecessary eaths of American servicemen and women, our allies, and the good people of Iraq," Batiste added.

During questioning, Batiste told the Committee that he and other generals on the ground in Iraq had repeatedly requested more troops but were denied by the Bush Administration, leaving them unable to achieve their objectives.

Major General Paul Eaton, who was the Commanding General of the Coalation Military Assistance Training Team and charged with building the Iraqi army after the invasion, also blasted the mismanagement of the war by Bush and Rumsfeld. "Stay the course is not a strategy," he said, noting that the "planning was amateurish at best, incompetent a better descriptor."

According to Eaton, Rumsfeld made it clear that establishing the Iraqi army was the "last priority" in restoring security. Eaton said Rumsfeld did not provide him with the resources he requested and desperately needed for success.

"The President charged Secretary Rumsfeld to prosecute this war, a man who has roven himself incompetent strategically, operationally, and tactically. Mr. Rumsfeld ame into his position with an extraordinary arrogance, and an agenda," Eaton said. As a result of the war, Iraqis have told Eaton that it is "better to live for 40 years under a dictatorship with order than 40 days of chaos."

(No word yet on when the White House plans to denounce the generals as defeatists or cowards)

Click here to read Batiste's opening statement (pdf)

Click here to read Eaton's opening statement (pdf)

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

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