Thursday 13 April 2006

Casualness and Swagger


Recently I have read in the news about a number of former high ranking American military commanders such as Lieut. General Greg Newbold USMC (Ret.) and General Anthony Zinni, USMC (ret.), voicing doubt about the need to invade Iraq or questioning some of the decisions made to deal with the aftermath. They come out strongly against the civilian leadership in the White House and the Pentagon and particularly against the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Given the disaster that the war has created for Iraq and how it has (in my mind) made the entire world considerably less secure, it is about time that the media is giving play to those with credibility who question the competence of the leaders that created this mess and the demand that they be held accountable.

Apparently, these generals are not the first former military leaders with doubts about the invasion of Iraq. Former General and National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, former Centcom Commander Norman Schwarzkopf, former NATO Commander Wesley Clark, and former Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki all voiced their reservations before the war. Obviously their reservations were not expressed strongly or, if strongly expressed, they were marginalized.

Unfortunately it is all a little to late at this point. Every day many Iraqis and a few American soldiers die as a result of this ill-conceived invasion. The architects of this tragedy are still in power perpetuating what surely must be a crime. General Newbold put it very succinctly when he wrote, “My sincere view is that the commitment of our forces to this fight was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions--or bury the results.” Will these people ever be held accountable for what they have done? I suspect not.

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