At an Army School, Blunt Talk on Iraq...who bore more responsibility for mistakes...

[ProSense]

At an Army School, Blunt Talk on Iraq

By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: October 14, 2007

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Here at the intellectual center of the United States Army, two elite officers were deep in debate at lunch on a recent day over who bore more responsibility for mistakes in Iraq — the former defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld, or the generals who acquiesced to him.

“The secretary of defense is an easy target,” argued one of the officers, Maj. Kareem P. Montague, 34, a Harvard graduate and a commander in the Third Infantry Division, which was the first to reach Baghdad in the 2003 invasion. “It’s easy to pick on the political appointee.”

“But he’s the one that’s responsible,” retorted Maj. Michael J. Zinno, 40, a military planner who worked at the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the former American civilian administration in Iraq.

<...>

But the consensus was that not even after Vietnam was the Army’s internal criticism as harsh or the second-guessing so painful, and that airing the arguments on the record, as sanctioned by Leavenworth’s senior commanders, was part of a concerted effort to force change.

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[napi21]

1. IMO, Shrub is the mot responsible. HE alone is the Comander in Chief!

Second to him would be Rummy. You can bet your bippy that Rummy told Shrub & Cheney what he was planning to do, but the final OK had to come from Shrub!

[tularetom]

2. I think cheney and rummy decided what they would do

and THEN told bush to approve their plans. A fine point but I don't think the boy king had anything to do with the decision except to be stoopid enough to agree to it. But they probably told him it would make him look like a real Texas he man and he fell right into the trap.

[napi21]

3. No doubt that's true! All I meant was it's the CIF...the DECIDER...

who has TOTAL responsibility!

[Islander Expat]

4. Actually every adult American citizen is responsible for the mess in Iraq

when it became clear that these crooks were going to invade, everybody that didn't drop what they were doing and say fuck this is responsible.

[ProSense]

5. BS! n/t

[Islander Expat]

6. Well you might not like that answer, but its absolutely true

[ProSense]

7. Feel free to accept responsiblity for

not personally tackling Bush to the ground.

This is Bush's war crime.

[Islander Expat]

8. Don't bring me into it, I packed my bags after the fraudulent 2000 elections

and been an expat islander ever since.

[ProSense]

9. So how does running away help? n/t

[Islander Expat]

10. Yup, life got a lot better, I just turn off computer, go take a walk down the beach

and life is good again

Going out right now, C U!