U.S. Officer Blasts Generals’ Handling of Iraq War
WASHINGTON - An active-duty U.S. Army officer wrote a scathing attack on U.S. generals for their role in the war in Iraq, accusing them of misleading Congress and the public about the situation there.”America’s general have repeated the mistakes of Vietnam in Iraq,” charged Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, an Iraq veteran who is deputy commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, in an article published on Friday in Armed Forces Journal.
Throughout the 1990s, U.S. general failed to gauge the conditions of future combat and prepare their forces properly, Yingling said, without naming anyone specifically.
Nor did they accurately inform Congress and the public about the number of troops needed for the Iraq war, he said.
“America’s generals did not provide Congress and the public with an accurate assessment of the conflict in Iraq,” Yingling wrote in the journal, which is published by a unit of Gannett Co. Inc. and is widely read by members of the U.S. military.
Having spent a decade “preparing to fight the wrong war,” U.S. generals then miscalculated both the means and ways necessary to succeed in Iraq, namely failing to commit sufficient forces to provide security to Iraq’s population, he said.
“Given the lack of troop strength, not even the most brilliant general could have devised the ways necessary to stabilize post-Saddam Iraq,” he wrote.
Yingling charged that after going into Iraq in 2003 with too few troops and no coherent plan for postwar stabilization, U.S. generals did not accurately portray the intensity of the insurgency to the American public.
He wrote that while for more than three years U.S. generals insisted the U.S. was making progress in Iraq, for Iraqi civilians each year has been more deadly than the one before.
“For reasons that are not yet clear, America’s general officer corps underestimated the strength of the enemy, overestimated the capabilities of Iraq’s government and security forces and failed to provide Congress with an accurate assessment of security conditions in Iraq,” Yingling wrote.
© Reuters Foundation 2007.
The points are probably all valid. However, I believe that General Shinseki estimated 500,000 troops would be needed. He was forced to retire early for such pessimism.
Rumsfeld has a lot to atone for with the situation as it now exists and for the approach to the illegal invasion and the number of troops committed to it.
Ultimatly, the buck stops with the Commander In Chief. I know…..I know…..The commander in Chief is really bad at accepting responsibility for his actions and for results but….the buck stop with Bush.
The Myth of the American Military as some aloof,dispassionate,voiceless entity has been shattered.
For better or worse,the professional cadres of career military personnel will have to decide if they serve the Nation,the Constitution,the Commander in Chief, their particular branch of service or simply their own individual career goals. Drawbacks to any specific choice abound.
Will the Academies address this issue? Not likely. Because there are no clearcut, practical solutions to put forward.
And that is the danger!
Each individual will sort this issue out for self.
Which will inevitably lead to selfish choices to serve to ones own ends.
This is not to besmirch the integrity of American Military Service members. It is simply an acknowledgement of their basic humanity. Thankfully,they share that with their civilian counterparts.
Reality must be respected; it trumps fantasy and myth every time.
I have to agree with Mike Gravel on this one. He said, to paraphrase, “there is no way to make a mistake competently.” The Iraq War was a mistake all along, and you can’t blame the generals for mistakes when they should never have been there in the first place.
If your orders are to insert your head into your ass, should you be faulted for failing?
And Bush says that congress isn’t listening to the generals when they send a spending bill with deadlines for withdrawal? When has he ever? Incredible.
Experience has taught me to always go back to the beginning and recheck the original legal basis for any action.
If you read the “Use of Force” authorization given by congress, you will see that the original pretext is long gone, and there is no authorization for the use of force as currently deployed.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
(a) Authorization.–The President is authorized to use the Armed
Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to:
(1) defend the national security of the United States
against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council
resolutions regarding Iraq.
1)Iraq is now a US ally and posed no threat the the USA, and 2) Iraq is now in compliance with all UNSC resolutions.
Congress never authorized the use of military force to create a democracy, rebuild the country, or take sides in an Iraq Civil War.
Bush has overstayed his authorization, the war is long over, the US won, yippee, time to go home.
Excuse me, Lt. Col. Yingling. I’m glad you’re pointing out so accurately the way that the generals were complicit in getting us into Bush’s war, but don’t you think it’s a little late? Isn’t it a bit like jumping on the bandwagon? I’m sure that there will be risk involved for your having made such harsh statements even now when the chorus is swelling. I agree with DaveAnderson: “The Iraq war was a mistake all along, and you can’t blame the generals for mistakes when they should never have been there in the first place.” It would take more guts than even most generals possess to have stood up to Bush when the popular press and opinion was very much for going along with him.
I’m against capital punishment, but having Shinseki lead a firing squad with Rumsfeld against the wall would seem like justice served.
With the addition of the christian dominionists and their influence on and in the military, there are going to be many more problems to solve.
They think that the US military is their own salvation thru armaggedon Onward christian soldiers.
As for this mea culpa - along with Powell and Tenet its all too late. Too bad they didn’t have the courage to say it when it counted. Shineski did and he got fired. My hat’s off to him.
Too late? I don’t believe the veto pen has been whipped out yet…
It takes tremendous courage for one to put one’s entire career (and life - and your family’s life) on the line, especially when you see over and over that it hasn’t made any difference. It is easy to criticize, but hey, we are all still going to work every day instead of camping out in front of the White House insisting that they bring the troops home now. How much have any of us really risked for the cause? I’m just sayin’…
What tiresome drivel. It gives a good index of the actual professionalism of the military that they are just now summoning the nerve to speak out. Now that it’s safe.
I put my career on the line when I wrote letters to the editor, right before the Iraq invasion, declaring bluntly that it was due to the confluence of the oil, defense, neo-cons and Zionist interests.
I have a family, too. I took the risk. Many of you did, too.
I have no respect whatever for the McClellans* of the world, marching about in smart uniforms, looking for personal advantage, while dodging every politically risky encounter. Semper Fi indeed! Loyalty to what?
And now our man Tenet is wriggling out from under the rock he hid under after his disgusting, shameful sell-out of the CIA. (not that the CIA deserves any real sympathy; they’re in pretty deep, themselves).
It just nauseates me to think that these pretenders have been vested with leadership positions. Let’s get some leaders with some guts.
————
* McClellan was Lincoln’s do-nothing General of the Army of the Potomac for the first few years of the Civil War. He was a political opportunist and a bit of a dandy.
George Bush is holding our troops hostage in Iraq. The ransom he demands from the American people is enough money to secure the oil fields long enough to divide them among his friends.
Someone better send out for pizza and cigarettes before he kills them all.
And while we’re on the subject, Petraeus strikes me as being a classic self-promoter in the mould of MacArthur, Patton and Montgomery. I listened to him the other day blaming jusy about everything in Iraq on Al-Qaida. According to the latest trumpetings of the CIA (surely timed to drown out Tenet’s book publishing), they got the head honcho of AQ in Iraq last year and have banged him up in Gitmo. So why the surge? Why the escalation of killing in Baghdad? God save us all from media-savvy generals.
Critisism of Lt.Col.Paul Yingling is not necessary or helpful.At least he finally got up the courage to speak out.All critisism should be directed at the stupid (leaders?)who for selfish, avaricous reasons chose to sacrifice your sons and daughters,as well as anyone else who gets in the way to have their way.To quote from the Chinese national anthem,”Who is he devoid of shame justice for himself would claim yet deny to all the same through vain and selfish pride?”These sleezy slimeballs need to be brought to justice for their crimes against all of humanity, and we and they know who they are! Thank you Lt. Col.
When all is said and done! There is only one truth that keeps popping up! George W Bush is the one who told all the lies, fixed the intelligence and sold the war to the American people and Congress! So, as far as I can see the General’s have never had much to do with it! They only came after the decisions had already been made to go to war! So, the buck stops with George W Bush and Company!
Karol:
You’re setting the bar pretty low. The military declares itself to be composed of the nation’s best and finest.
If indeed that’s the case, why do they lag the everyday citizen in terms of the ability to discern what’s really happening, and converting that realization into action and risk-taking?
If you talk the talk, you need to walk the walk. Let’s see some “walking” when it counts - that is, when it’s *not* popular, when there’s still time to change course.
Not when all the damage has been done, and it’s time to get “noticed” as the new administration (2008 elections) is making decisions about who to replace whom with in the upper echelons of the military.
We also need to raise the bar for our beloved civilian leaders. What a motley collection of windbags they are. Exceptions: Kuchinich, Hagel, Feingold, Leahy, Byrd.
Excuse me, but I recall a number of generals being transferred or forced to retire becauwe they said the occupaton was unwinnable with the current troop level. Shinseki was only the first. Every time a general says this isn’t working Bush finds another general who’s willing to go along with him - at least at first. So whenever he says - as he does constantly - that he gives his generals all the troops they ask for we know what he’s full of.
Outerbeltway
“If indeed that’s the case, why do they lag the everyday citizen in terms of the ability to discern what’s really happening, and converting that realization into action and risk-taking?”
*******************************************************************
Could it possibly be related to the fact that all military personel undergo constant dehumanizing brainwashing from start to finish? The goal of the military is to remove all traces of individuality, and critical thinking from each soldier.
(I wonder if Nazi soldiers posed in snapshots of their torture victims?)
*Cheese!*
How can people be unaware that soldiery is slavery? At least according to every definition of the word slavery. Or were you thinking they are merely overworked and underpaid like all the rest of us?
Soldiers are required to do things no one else is willing to do, at the threat of gunpoint, for less than subsistance wages, without proper care or concern for the individual or their supporting families. The military is an ancient barbaric institution which should have been dismantled a thousand years ago.
Have no delusions. The walls being built in Iraq, obstensibly to keep terror out, are in reality just to keep soldiers from escaping. The Brits can tell you; they treat their prisoners better than we do.
Do not support the troops.
They were foolish enough to sell themselves into slavery.
They are lost, with no hope of return.
It is time to take Rummy’s philosophy to heart. Let them ALL die! And may they die in such a way that brings glory and profit to the over-corporation!
Everything Baby Bush has done so far has been in an effort to escalate the war into an all out world war; Xians vs. Muslims. Soon the army will begin recruiting illegal aliens in exchange for citizenship. Sooner or later terror will find even the well protected and financially insulated.
This war is unstoppable. You should stop worrying about how to stop the war and start worrying about how to survive it.
Long live the cowardly emperor!
Shit the whole american public screaming for revenge didnt have anything to do with this huge crime. Nooooo the media did not have anything to do with the ilegal war you freaking americants find yourselfs in again! Noooooo its just bushs fault none of you voted for the idiot or any of his warmonging friends. Thats right america you just keep on blaming everybody else except the real culprits staring at your fat asses in that mirrior. The truth hurts! PEACE
The unalterable underlying premise of the military is that it kill people and blow up things. The decision has already been made by the civilian leadership, rightly or wrongly, legally or illegally. Military leaders are not trained to understand the culture they’re assaulting. They assign the enemy a name: rag-head, terrorist, A-Q. The whole population tends to be subsumed under this name: “They all look the same.” Our civilian leadership, the military, and the press either issue or swallow the “reasons” for war. No one is allowed to mention “oil,” “permanent bases,” “New American Century.” The words used are of fear, freedom, liberty, democracy. Your sons and daughters die and suffer irreparable wounds pursuing these “goals,” this “victory,” this “winning.” Millions of us knew all this before the war started, and we tried to stop our leaders. We were overwhelmed by the “framers” (liars), the uncritical press, and the fearful people of our country. There was no reasoning, no questioning, no courage that would say “Stop in the name of all people.” And this is the way it will be until we put as much money and training into Conflict Resolution, Cross-cultural communication, and Compassion, as we do into the Pentagon. Crimes have been committed. We must hold responsible all of those who have done this: the White House, the press, Congress, the Pentagon — everyone who threw away reason, compassion, skepticism, and truth. Kudos to warbad.
I think I meant, Kudos to Outerbeltway. Didn’t get the arrows straight.
The biggest trouble in the world right now is american troops are over equiped over paid and over there. (Iraq, etc.)
Good for Outerbeltway and Huckleberry!)
This must have been how the German General Staff felt after Hitler decided to invade the USSR and open up a two front war. They all professionally knew that this put the German nation in an untennable position and they all knew that it didn’t matter because (to pick up on James Watt’s famous phrase about the Gipper), the German nation was content to let Der Fuehrer be Der Fuehrer.
Now (to further indulge the analogy) we have to grapple with the ticklish question of whether this devotion was ultimately good or bad. There have been numerous books written about just how close the Nazi’s came to having been able to conquer all of Europe.
Most agree that Hitler’s demanding blunders were the best help that the Allied powers had on their side and helped to hurry the defeat of the Nazi’s. Otherwise, they might have been able to last a lot longer and possibly either prevail or at the very least make strong demands for a cessation of hostilities.
Maybe for the sake of the rest of the world we (the US)needs to let this thing rock on so that finally America Inc. can be smashed beyond any rejuvenation. This is not an easy question to ponder.
I think Col. Yingling knows very well that the general(s?) he blames are not the cause of this train wreck. He just can’t say “Commander in Chief” without risking charges of treason. I think he knows the generals know why Col. Yingling is blaming them, and are secretly cheering him on. Even still, he probably threw his career in the toilet. I admire his courage — but aren’t they all supposed to be courageous in protecting our beloved nation from despots like Bush?
There were several experts on the Middle East who warned the public about the inevitable civil war looming long before we sent troops into Iraq. But Bush and his prized generals never listen to experts because they think they can win at any cost. In fact, I question whether the military leaders can think rationally as they live for the glory of war. Getting into battle is their motivation. It’s like a fix they need and many soldiers join up for the same reason: a fix or high. After all, we don’t have a draft at the moment so why are so many people heading out to join the massacre?
Many of the comments here are valid and have substance. I have a problem, though, with judging our military based on the fact that all they want is war and death and destruction. I don’t think that our front line soldiers signed up for the military to die and be maimed in the name of fighting endless wars. They bought into the same lies that many American citizens bought into after 9/11. Just as it took most citizens a while to figure out the truth, the folks that joined the military were force fed the same lies. Not to mention the fact that most of the recruiting that has been done is based on the hope that the military will give many of these impoverished kids a hope for the future - if they survive.
Our soldiers are just cannon fodder for the military/industrial complex and their corporate masters. It’s all about blood for oil and power. Our soldiers and our citizens are just pawns.
It now appears that some of us are waking up from the lies and propaganda that we have been fed for SOOOOO many years. Look into the mirror!! Our military is set up to serve their civilian masters. Only the PEOPLE can change who those masters are. The military is NOT the problem. It is the leadership that WE THE PEOPLE allowed to come to power!
Yes, today my kids watched Hillary Duff recruiting on the Disney Channel.
She was “acting” in some teenage military academy B___S___ melodrama rerun.
I wonder how many young women signed up for duty thinking they were going to be stars in the army’s dance troupe?
Good discussion here. And at what point in history did we become sword and cannon fodder and WHO benefits?
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