Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Haunted By the Ghost of Eric Shinseki
Most news junkies are familiar with Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki; his name still comes up in analyses of the U.S. failures in Iraq. Prior to the invasion, his testimony before congress triggered the wrath of the neocons when he stated several hundred thousand soldiers would be required to invade and occupy the country. Two years before, Shinseki had come into conflict with the Bush administration and Donald Rumsfeld. The congressional hearing was the last big salvo.
Since the U.S. didn’t have several hundred thousand soldiers to invade and occupy Iraq, Shinseki was actually stating that the war was a very bad idea. He really did know what he was talking about; back in 2000, he gave this interview to Frontline. He spoke about how the military’s role had changed to encompass dealing with terrorism, peacekeeping missions, WMDs, humanitarian assistance, etc. and how to restructure the army to meet those needs. He also said that soldiers deserved better than to lose their lives needlessly because of poor planning by their superiors.
I guess it’s not surprising that he didn’t get along with Rumsfeld.
A brilliant and honorable guy. Such a tragedy, that this fine soldier was hatchet jobbed for the sake of the neocon ideology.
Jeff
There was some talk about him running for public office but he’s refused to say anything. I’m not so sure he would want to plunge into that cesspool called Washington, D.C. What kind of person goes into politics?
Moving post: I am to the right of Michael Savage — and pro-Iraq War all the way. I confess that I, too, hated Shinseki at the time. Now, however, although I am not anti-war in the least, I can see that Shinseki’s foresight was uncanny. (I would, however, suggest that Shinseki was NOT necessarily saying the war was unwise: He was saying use the proper number of troops to police an occupied Iraq!) — gunjam
Eric was right….Rummy and Wolfowitz were “way” wrong and did not have the foresight or the intelligence to reflect on comments made by a seasoned veteran….how many American lives would have been saved if we heeded Eric’s advice….
Ric was right
Shinseki has been virtually silent on the matter of the war since his retirement–another honorable thing about the guy. He did admit to seeing some “Ric was right” caps worn at his West Point reunion. He wouldn’t even really comment on that. I respect him tremendously.