McClatchy Newspapers: Sanchez on Iraq errors: Don't blame me, I was just a general

[laststeamtrain]

Sanchez on Iraq errors: Don't blame me, I was just a general
By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — To hear retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez explain it, the mistakes of the Iraq war that happened while he was in command there weren't his fault. Not Abu Ghraib, not the birth of the insurgency, not the decision to let rebel cleric Muqtada al Sadr survive.

Sanchez was a soldier, and according to him, a general's job is to give advice. What the civilian leaders decide after that is out of a general's hands.

"It's our responsibility to provide the best judgment we can," Sanchez said in an interview with McClatchy. "But when those decisions are made, if they are not illegal or immoral, civilian control of the military dictates that we comply."

His explanation is part of an ongoing debate within the military, triggered by the Iraq quagmire: What is the role of a soldier?

Sanchez argues that crafting a strategy wasn't his responsibility, even as the top commander in Iraq. That fell to the civilian leaders, such as the secretary of defense and the president.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/37416.html

[wtmusic]

1. Civilian control of the military?

I knew I shouldn't have dozed off in Civics. :crazy:

[theoldman]

2. A soldier has two choices, follow orders or resign.

The vast majority cannot resign until their period of enlistment is over.

[wtmusic]

4. The third choice (requiring the most bravery)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehren_Watada

[TomInTib]

3. He wasn't making policy.

Generals are (still) soldiers.

They don't make policy.

Ask MacArthur (well, if he wasn't so damned dead).

[Miss Authoritiva]

5. Fiasco...

If you've read Tom Ricks' Fiasco,, you can better appreciate where Sanchez is coming from. The civilian side of the Pentagon were total idiots, from Mad Hatter Rumsfeld on down and also including one L. Paul Bremer.

One of the reasons Sanchez -- an obscure Lieutenant General who had distinguished himself only by not distinguishing himself -- was selected for the Iraq command position was because all the full Generals in the Pentagon who had any brains resigned their commissions as soon as they heard footsteps in the corridors.

Even Tommy Franks got the f*ck out fast. He got the troops into Baghdad and said so long. His aide was astonished: Don't you want to stay on and join the Joint Chiefs? Nope. Franks knew exactly what was going to happen with Rumsfeld's anorexic troop strengths. Franks left on a high note, making some righteous bucks on the book and lecture circuit.

Think of it: The Iraq War started in mid-March 2003; Franks announced his retirement on May 22, 2003 and officially retired on July 7, 2003.

Can't say I blame him.