political : DO YOU AGREE WITH THESE U.S. GENERALS AND THEIR ASSESSMENT OF RUMSFELD? [+] serious ballot by cranky ACTIVE Tue Sep 26, 06 - Sun Jun 21, 09 Retired officers slam Rumsfeld handling of Iraq war WASHINGTON (AP) -- Retired military officers on Monday bluntly accused Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld of bungling the war in Iraq, saying U.S. troops were sent to fight without the best equipment and that critical facts were hidden from the public. "I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the administration did not tell the American people the truth for fear of losing support for the war in Iraq," retired Maj. Gen. John R. S. Batiste said in remarks prepared for a hearing by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. A second witness, retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, assessed Rumsfeld as "incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically ...." "Mr. Rumsfeld and his immediate team must be replaced or we will see two more years of extraordinarily bad decision-making," he added in testimony prepared for the hearing, held six weeks before the November 7 midterm elections, in which the war is a central issue. The conflict, now in its fourth year, has claimed the lives of more than 2,600 American troops and cost more than $300 billion. It is unusual for retired military officers to criticize the Pentagon while military operations are under way, particularly at a public event likely to draw widespread media attention. But Batiste, Eaton and retired Col. Paul X. Hammes were unsparing in remarks that suggested deep anger at the way the military had been treated. All three served in Iraq, and Batiste also was senior military assistant to then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. He said Rumsfeld at one point threatened to fire the next person who mentioned the need for a postwar plan in Iraq. Batiste said if full consideration had been given to the requirements for war, it's likely the U.S. would have kept its focus on Afghanistan, "not fueled Islamic fundamentalism across the globe, and not created more enemies than there were insurgents." Hammes said in his prepared remarks that not providing the best equipment was a "serious moral failure on the part of our leadership." Hammes was responsible for establishing bases for the Iraqi armed forces. He served in Iraq in 2004 and is now Marine Senior Military Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, National Defense University. Eaton was responsible for training the Iraqi military and later for rebuilding the Iraqi police force. He said planning for the postwar period was "amateurish at best, incompetent a better descriptor." * * * * * * * * Do you agree with these U.S. Generals, that Rumsfeld is a loser? Yes, Rumsfeld is a loser No, Rumsfeld is a military genius. Just ask Bush. Ballot #102540 : SEE RESULTS Comment: show your vote with comment?

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