http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48265-2003Mar29.html This article in WaPo is based on an article about to be released in the New Yorker, written by Seymour Hersh. The whole article is very negative toward Rummy, going over stuff we've covered here about him overruling the career military guys and going for a smaller force. But this part I clipped is disgraceful. Particularly the last sentence. "The only hope?" WTF??? If true. How trustworthy is Hersh? I guess we'll find out once this article hits, cuz it's not the kind of thing that is likely to be swept under the rug. Other journos are going to pick at this and see if there's any truth to it, or if its' just a couple of officers have an axe to grind and finding a willing conduit. For now, public opinion is holding very strong for Bush. I'm a bit surprised; I would have thought that at least some of the war support would peel off based on the idea in the air that this plan is a bad one. Research indicates that it's not casualties that destroy public support for a war in the US, it's lack of progress and/or lack of faith in the plan, so I would have thought it'd go down abit, maybe 5-10 points. It hasn't, tho. We'll see what happens if Hersh's accusations stand up.
I hold Rumsfeld personally responsible for every American death caused by his negligence. If he had a conscience he'd have a hard time sleeping at night. I'd love to see someone launch an investigation into his incredible level of incompetence.
Actually guy, the front line units are being re supplied as we speak. The press blasted the Pentagon for pausing, when in reality they are consolidating their posistion and re supplying.
Negligence? Because he misenterpreted the Iraqi reaction? Don't tell me you knew how many Fedayeen there were, and how their prescence would affect the civilian reaction. This is a very difficult war to prosecute, so lay off Rumsfeld. I think we are that close to everything falling into place. As more and more aid reaches Umm Qasr, and Safwan, the word will spread north to Basra. This, combined with word of pummled Rep G units fleeing towards Baghdad should finally get the people of Basra to rise up. Then who knows what happens in places like Nasiriya and An Najaf. This will take a couple of weeks. We've had 100 coalition deaths in 9 days of combat, and how many of those are from tragic accidents? Considering how far they have moved, that is a light causalty number.
Right, the front line guys are getting the luxury of 3, not 1, meal per day, and fuel for their vehicles. If you read the article, you'll see that Hersh is NOT really talking about things the front line guys were running out of. Grunts don't use Tomahawks. The alleged maintenance problems are undefined. Are they out of motor oil and fan belts? Or is it that the number of mechanics is insufficient for the number of problems that need fixing? In retrospect, maybe my title misled you.
Yes, negligence, because Rumsfeld continually ignored the experts in the Pentagon to try out his new theory of warfare. Men and women are dying for Rumsfeld's experiment and he is responsible. Nothing will ever convince me otherwise.
perhaps these are things the don should have considered before invading you know, gather intelligence, and decide upon action cafefully instead of recklessly in hopes that high expectations the don has will just magically happen
What is your idea then Mike? If we were to stop and clear out every hamlet along the way, 1.) We'd have more casualties 2.) We'd never get to Baghdad. Rumsfeld's plan is sound when it addresses this situation. You surround these places, and you always keep moving. You cut them off, and render them useless. Now we have consolidated our position across the Euphrates, and we will continue to pound the exposed RG units. Then we will continue the push north. I'll bet you don't know how many coalition ground troops are even in Iraq right now. There are around 300,000 in the region, but only about a third of that is in Iraq. More are coming in everyday. Soon we will have a sizable northern front to put pressure on the Nevakanesser division north of Kirkuk. Soon RG units will have to make a decision in regards to their deployment. No one could predict the numbers or brutality of the Fedayeen units. They arn't on parade for us to count. Also, we didn't expect for them to kill our guys while "surrendering." This single act forces our guys to mistrust every Iraqi civilian, and that causes a slow down. I will admit, Rumsfeld messed up when he predicted that Iraq would uprise, but we now know that the failure to raise up is directly impacted by the Fedayeen. Take a step back and realize that things will get better as more troops and more aid comes into Iraq. If 100,000 troops can get to within 50 miles of Baghdad, i smile when i think of what 290,000 will do.
Another negative article from superdave. If I didn't know any better I'd get the impression he actually enjoys US defeats in Iraq for pure partisan reasons.
There's lots of evidence that Rumsfeld went to war ignoring the best advice of the military leaders under his command. He had a theory in mind about how to fight a war, and come hell or high water he was going to execute his plan. You can choose to ignore the evidence that points to Rumsfeld being a horse's ass. You can choose to ignore people in the military who have said repeatedly that Rumsfeld ignore his best and most experienced generals. You can choose to ignore the fact that ignoring professional soldiers is the worst thing a commander can do prior to invading another country. I choose not to. Of course, there's no way to know how many American men and women have died due to Rumsfeld's incompetent negligence. As far as I'm concerned, one person in uniform who dies in this conflict due to bad tactics and logistics is criminal, and Rumsfeld should be held responsible. He is far too cavalier in his treatment of American soldiers, something that was exemplified in recent months with his out of hand dismissal of all those brave men who were drafted into the military and fought and died on foreign soil for the USA. Rumsfeld is the worst thing to happen to the DoD since its creation in 1947.
Right now, few if any. Yeah, I know, one is too many, but that's not what really concerns me. This, from talkingpointsmemo, does. The reinforcements arrive in 3 weeks. Clark is making a guess as to the Arab psyche. If there's one thing we've learned the last week, it's that it's tough for Westerners to get into the Arab psyche. I don't know how accurate the 4-5 weeks is, but I think it's obvious that our time is NOT unlimited. That's the problem, that Rummy's plan, and the lack of supplies in the region, are gonna slow us down. Maybe we'll get lucky, and the regime will collapse. But hope is not a plan.
Re: Re: Re: Are our soldiers about to run out of supplies? Never seen a message board used for a booty call before. How many did you have tonight, Alex?
So basically you just ignored my post. I gave you the fact that Rumsfeld was wrong in a certain area, and you chose to respond by not even reading my post. Thanks for answering my questions Mike.