Bush hits a new low

[xoxoxoBruce]

Well duh, that's why he shouldn't have started a war without sufficient resources, like the pentagon told him.

[tw]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Is that the same Gen Sanchez that did the Abu Ghraib report?

Sanchez's first divisional command was 1st Armor Division for a short time (maybe two years). He was then promoted over everyone to become commander in Iraq (V Corp). Amazing how Rumsfeld could not find another General with experience necessary to command at the Corp level.

During Sanchez' tenure, Gen Miller brought torture from Guantanamo to two cell block in Abu Ghriad. Simultaneously, Sanchez was at war with Ambassador Paul Bremer who did almost as much as he could to create an Iraqi insurgency. Bremer and Sanchez would not even talk making solutions almost impossible and even resulting in today's situations. For example, the Marines were ordered into Fallujah to do what the Marines had no intention of doing. The Marines well understood the negative consequences of what would happen as a result of Fallujah. But they were talking to and represented in Washington by Sanchez who really never understood those negative consequences. Marines did exactly what they were told. The resulting disaster is now history.

Unity of command did not exist. Neither Sanchez nor Bremer ever made an effort to solve a massive management problem setup and directly attributed to George Jr's administration. A situation that Gen Jay Garner quickly identified as a prescription for failure, tried to tell Rumsfeld, and then realized the futility of saying anything.

Meanwhile, Gen Taguba was assigned to report on Abu Ghriad. For accurately making that report, Gen Taguba's military career was terminated by a revengeful George Jr administration. But others attribute blame for Abu Ghriad to Sanchez. It was initiated under Gen Sanchez' watch. There is no reason Sanchez 'did not know'. Abu Ghriad was a result of decisions and objectives defined by top commanders.

Two star general Sanchez was later replace by a four stars Gen Casey who brought massive experience. It was repeatedly obvious that Sanchez did not have sufficient experience to perform a job made only more complex by the micromanagement of Rumsfeld and by Washington politics 'blame game' who invented enemies like al Qaeda and Syria (rather than the insurgency, religious violence, a completely corrupt Iraqi government headed by weak leaders, and civil war) . Even worse, Gen Sanchez never had a strategic objective leaving division commanders such as Gen Odiero to only make the insurgency worse by inventing objectives as they operated. The long term objectives that would have focused divisional commanders to 'nation building' just never existed under Sanchez.

During this same time, some better and promising military leaders such as Gen Petreaus and Col McMasters were pigeonholed. While in those backwater assignments, both men took the opportunity to learn and define how an insurgency and civil war must be fought.

Back in Washington, George Jr decides to give the Freedom Medal to Amb Bremer and Gen Franks in Philadelphia. Top management (George Jr) had that little grasp of what he was creating in Iraq since the entire George Jr administration had no idea of basic military principles. Sec of State Powell was first isolated and then driven from power while extremists agendas advocated by Feith and Wolfovitz were implemented. Even Gen Myers - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs - was made Rumsfeld's puppy dog. Everyone in top management who might have helped Sanchez were even less knowledgeable.

A small snapshot of people and events that swirled around Gen Sanchez during his disastrous reign as commander of V Corp in Iraq.

Bush used to remind me of Wilson, but he is not just a psychopath, he's an idiot.

[piercehawkeye45]

Or he has a dillusional agenda. Idiots and people with extreme or dillusional agendas seem to be mixed a lot. (see Hitler)

Hitler was an idiot, but I don't see Bush as the "Kill em' all" type.
"They" are too useful for him and he's just smart enough, or has advisers who are close enough, to know that he would be screwed if the tried any crap like that.
Plus, he's too happy for any Hitler, Mao, Stalin type-shit.
Think of a spoiled 5-yr-old with a buzz.

[piercehawkeye45]

Hitler basically took over Europe in a year. Dillusional? Yes, but he was not an idiot. I hate him as much as the next guy but to call him stupid is just.....stupid. The end of the war he was very mentally unstable but besides that he almost had the Allies defeated if he didn't make a few mistakes.

Not going to get all into it now, but Hitler was an idiot. He could talk and could exploit people's weaknesses once he realized what they were insecure about. That was it.
Everyone has a talent and he was in a place where EVERYONE was feeling insecure and was out of work.
I cannot imagine a man with the mentality and brain of a twelve-year-old lasting as long as he did.
Did you read Mien Kamph? Remember, that was the best EDITORS could do with that that moron could write.
Think about his decisions.
Idiot.
Hitler took over a few offices and made some speeches... that is all he took over.
He did not know half of what was going on after it happened.

Stalin took over.

[Undertoad]

PH45: Shinseki was "forced out"
Wikipedia: Shinseki was "undermined somewhat by having a successor chosen early"
tw: Shinseki was "all but removed from office"

You can see why PH45 said that, he was just quoting someone who should have known.

Quoting the relevant Wiki entry and then brazenly spinning it in the very next sentence -- that takes some kind of balls. Not sure what kind.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Tetrahedral ones, perhaps. Those apices couldn't be comfortable, which might explain a certain... tension in a certain poster's tone.