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“Where are we for all of that?”

General Anthony Zinni (Ret.), Former Commander, Central Command, on Iraq:

We, unfortunately, went into this war despite the fact of my disagreements of going into it the wrong time, wrong place, wrong threat, wrong priority. We went into it ill equipped because we went into it with a pie in the sky best case. We bought into what ever the exiles were selling us, and what we wanted to believe: flowers in the street, to go in and score a quick victory and this would turn almost automatically.
A handful of people from the Pentagon going in trying to reconstruct the country, pulling together the CPA from embassies around the world and dragging people in that weren’t cohesive part of an organization like the military, that have worked together that understand the problem.
You can see the results we’ve got. If you disagree with me or if anyone disagrees with me, tell me you’re satisfied with the planning, the strategy, the decisions that have led us to this point. We are about to have our 800th kid killed out there. I believe we’re at 799 today. We have had 4,500 kids wounded, injured, maimed, some of them, tragically, severely.
We are about to approach $200 billion of our treasure. Where are we for all of that? I think the American citizens have to ask that question. For someone to tell me it’s unpatriotic to question this while our troops are out there doing this and to see what is happening to our image and our reputation around the world, I think it is unpatriotic not to ask these questions and not pose these challenges.

I was a bit surprised to see that Tom Clancy also views the war as a “mistake.”
Who will be the next to jump ship?

Brian Arner's Weblog

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  1. When the likes of Trent Lott or James Inhofe come out and say: they (Pentagon, Administration) messed up, the neocons were wrong, or the abuse Americans are guilty of is inappropriate behavior unbecoming of civilized society…
    If they jump ship then I will change my tune and believe that this country will begin heading in the right direction. But until then there are just too many Americans who get their thoughts and direction from conservatives like Lott and Inhofe.
    But the fact that the military wing and the economic wing of the Republican party are already strongly distancing themselves from Bush and Co. is a strong indicator of his weakness.
    Truth be told:
    I doubt Bush will ever lose his true core base, the socially conservative Republicans who view his proclamations of Jesus to be the actual words of Jesus. “Stay the course, God spoke to me, I’m doing the right thing..” (It is a shame that no one has –successfully– been able to convince then that he is directing them right over a very tall cliff!!)

  2. I just saw Ann Coulter on TV saying the Iraq experiment is going magnificently, and that all reports to the contrary (including those by Fox News military analysts) are just the liberal media going after Bush.
    What war is she watching?

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