Someone else needs to be condemned:
In a sweeping indictment of the four-year effort in Iraq, the former top American commander called the Bush administration’s handling of the war incompetent and warned that the United States was “living a nightmare with no end in sight.”
In one of his first major public speeches since leaving the Army in late 2006, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez blamed the administration for a “catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan” and denounced the current “surge” strategy as a “desperate” move that will not achieve long-term stability.
“After more than fours years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism,” Mr. Sanchez said, at a gathering here of military reporters and editors.
General Sanchez is the most senior in a string of retired generals to harshly criticize the administration’s conduct of the war. Asked following his remarks why he waited nearly a year after his retirement to outline his views, he responded that that it was not the place of active duty officers to challenge lawful orders from civilian authorities. General Sanchez, who is said to be considering a book, promised further public statements criticizing officials by name.
“There was been a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders,” he said, adding later in his remarks that civilian officials have been “derelict in their duties” and guilty of a “lust for power.”
The White House had no initial comment.
I blame the Democrats.
Bubblegum Tate
Wow, he must have one hell of a book to sell.
Also, he’s a former general. If he were still active, then maybe his words would mean something. But now that he’s retired, he’s just some America-hating asshole.
[/wingnut logic]
tBone
Another BDS-afflicted commie with a (forthcoming) book to pimp. Nothing to see here, folks.
JGabriel
I can already predict the reaction on the right:
How long do you think it’ll take? I bet someone at LGF or Freeperville has already posted it in comments.
25%ER®
Ricky Ricardo Dirty Sanchez is a “phony” soldier!
I love you Michelle Malkin!
Mike S
I blame Move-On.
KCinDC
Sanchez, you say? Are we sure he’s not an illegal alien? What about his parents? Grandparents? Cousins? We’d better start calling all of them, and their neighbors, and their employers, to be sure.
Or maybe he’s a member of MEChA? Or a fan of Hugo Chavez? So many questions….
Mike
As Howard Hunter would say:
Ninerdave
This will be resoundly ignored by the wingnuts, as they always do when reality tries to force itself upon them.
I’m sure they will find something to get all shrieky about. Or hell there’s always the Move On ad to fall back on.
Mike S
BTW Don’t expect Malkin to weigh in n this. She’s still buzy flogging the Frost story.
RSA
Sanchez really gets hammered in Thomas Ricks’s Fiasco, for the time that he was the top general in Iraq. I’m glad he’s standing up to explain what went wrong. I think the Bush administration is probably trying to figure out how to walk the fine line of saying that Sanchez was dumped because he was incompetent, while avoiding the perception that he’s in the same category as others who have been dumped (like Rumsfeld) as well as questions about why the administration does such a poor job of choosing military leaders.
jnfr
But what about his kitchen counters?
chopper
i decided to put on my ‘journalist’ hat and head on over to sanchez’s house to check out what’s really going on.
well, he wasn’t home, so i asked his neighbor. he said that 4 years ago the sanchez family remodeled their house. i looked in the window and saw honest-to-god granite countertops.
that money has to come from somewhere. in fact, i looked it up, and there’s a dude 14 miles away who sold his chateau for like 15 million dollars. that means sancehz’s got like 14 million in assets at least, so it doesn’t make sense that he’d become a general unless he was trying to ruin america from the inside!!
he must have some ulterior, america-hating motive. the bastard!
whippoorwill
More Iraqi’s experiencing liberation
NickM
Was it not the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said: “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the composition of their countertops.”
The dream lives on, Dr. King, the dream lives on.
rawshark
He’s stabbing us in the back, right to our faces. Damn him and Scott Beauchamp.
The Stranger
Sanchez is just another wussy Democrat who is pissed that the surge is working.
Sadly pitiful.
I wonder what position the Gorillary promised him.
rawshark
I’d like to hear which way the girl spins when Sanchez looks at her before I rush to judgement.
jcricket
Are we certain Sanchez’ first name isn’t “Dirty”?
He’s going to be the chief general in the new world army once Hillary seizes power and demands all guns be rounded up. But only after his book tour.
whippoorwill
No, Stranger it’s not sadly pitiful. If you want to see sadly pitiful check out the link I provided 3 comments before your’s.
capelza
Okay..that was funny.
incontrolados
Can we just submit that the vast majority of the top military commanders are Democrats (except for the partisan Petraeus) and get this over with?
Then Rush can finally do what he was born to do.
binzinerator
KCinDC Says:
Citizen Journalists! To the shrubbery!
(ripped off from Frank https://balloon-juice.com/?p=8853#comments)
The Other Steve
Sanchez must have visited the MSP airport restroom.
Krista
It just goes to show what a bunch of degenerates we are. As I was reading the post, I was wondering how to incorporate a Dirty Sanchez joke. We’re only 21 comments in, and several people have already beaten me to it.
Slide
here is another example of someone that should have spoken out when it mattered but didn’t Colin Powell…. Alan Greenspan….. General Sanchez… but by their silence and acquiescence they gave credibility and legitimacy to the administrations dangerous polices and actions. Shame on them all for their self-serving cowardice.
Slide
Krista what is a dirty sanchez? hmmm?
Zuzu
Well hey, he’s just one of what, a couple thousand generals? And they’re all gonna have opinions. So it’s a big so what, according to my talking points right here:
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,94216,00.html
Oh, you say he – like the other retired generals who spoke out – is actually one of the few who helped plan or implement a war on Iraq?
http://www.antiwar.com/pat/?articleid=8858
Nev-er mind.
Slide
yeah, but General Petraeus…
Tsulagi
The General must want new countertops. Envious of the Frosts.
His points are valid. They have been and obvious over the past four years. But I don’t have a whole lot of respect for Sanchez.
He’s right there has never been a coherent strategy from the admin, but operationally and tactically Sanchez was a bust at a critical time. He also has dirty hands in Abu Ghraib. In the whole, he pretty much went along to get along. Now, like the dipshit at the top, you want to say “Not My Fault!”, General? I’m not buying that book.
Funny, if the admin’s response is Sanchez has sour grapes and a book to sell, they might finally be correct. Only took seven years.
tBone
I see what you did there.
craigie
Oh come on, like generals know anything about war. Now if he were a Young Republicant, then his opinion would mean something.
borehole
Another guy pulls a Powell. Are these people in a competition to see who can issue withering critiques the too-latest or something?
I dunno from phony soldiers, but the Pentagon’s full of frauds, man. Makes you wanna smack ’em with a prosthetic limb.
canuckistani
Too late for the countertops, too late for the Dirty Sanchez, is there any snark left? Does he have a 12-year old paper boy who was in an accident?
borehole
Which makes it look as though I think Powell was in the Pentagon. It just seemed like the right shorthand.
incontrolados
Waahhhh
Do I have to wait until Sunday morning to hear Kristol poop?
(extra special exclamation points not included)
Ninerdave
DAMN YOU GRAEME FROST!!!!
jcricket
You really don’t want to know. But if you must, click here.
There’s still plenty of time for the interracial hooker BJ fraidy-cat jokes.
That and something about wet suits. How come no one’s mentioning the wet suits and the dildo with a condom (! seriously!) on the dead guy.
This stuff just rights (pun intented) itself.
Chuck Butcher
An active commander with a problem has about two options, try to make the best of it, doing what he can with his insight to reduce bad effects on the troops, or he can have a public say about it and be gone. Replaced with someone facing the same problems and no insight.
Sure,there are a couple assumptions involved in applying this to Sanchez…
Beej
Yes, his comments are many days late and billions of dollars short, but I do have a bit more sympathy for military officers who keep their opinions to themselves while in uniform. Douglas MacArthur didn’t and look what happened to him. And, incidentally, I believe that Truman was absolutely correct to relieve him of command. Civilian authority always trumps military authority in this country and that’s as it should be. Now, as to why Sanchez didn’t resign then and subsequently offer his assessment of the Iraq war, well, hmmmmmm.
jcricket
This actually sounds even more convincing if you picture Chuck Heston screaming it while on his knees in a loincloth staring at a giant statue of GW Bush all up to his neck in sand…
(an image actually very apropos of the situation).
Dennis-SGMM
What kind of person do you have to be to allow those under your command to throw away their lives for a “catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan”?
I grew up in the military and served in Vietnam. We were told that the people entrusted to our command relied on us to take care of them. In turn, we looked to our superiors to take care of us. That didn’t mean not putting us in harms’ way, it meant doing their best for us.
Sanchez is a disgrace to his rank and to his uniform – not because he is speaking out now but because he didn’t speak out when he was in command.
TenguPhule
A gutless turd more concerned about book deals and paid pensions then being responsible.
These fair wind ‘serious’ people deserve the shitting they get from their former fellows for betraying the code of the Right.
TenguPhule
Translated The Stranger: When he’s shilling for us, he’s a loyal Republican Patriot General who must not be questioned! When the big pussy comes clean later, he’s one of yours, Moonbats!
Lupin
Jamil Hussein. Scott Beauchamp. Graeme Frost. And now Ricardo Sanchez? A coincidence? I think not.
/snark
Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop
I wonder why the Media Deciders at the NYT (what, was there no DKos diary to link?) chose not to report on the first half of Sanchez’s speech, which told the media what a shit job they’ve done in reporting the facts in Iraq. Why was the headline not “Sanchez Faults Media, Bush Administration”? It’s almost as though that didn’t fit the Times’ agenda so much. Hmmmmm.
So they totally ignore the entire first half of his speech, which criticizes the media — give it not one word of coverage — and give 100% of the coverage to Predatory Attacks(!) on the Bush administration.
But they are fair and unbiased. Unless they are covering their own asses.
TenguPhule
It’s redundant to point out how the Media shills for Bush and then criticize Bush in the same speech.
gypsy howell
Sanchez can go F**K himself. How many times did we watch that piece of shit lie straightfaced to America and the world on TV, defending the indefensible, calling the critics of Abu Ghraib liars, encouraging the continuation of their corrupt and immoral war.
And now he wants to be redeemed? Too late, shithead.
The entire military seems to be comprised of pathological liars. Apparently that’s not only a requirement of military service, it’s rewarded.
Drop dead, Sanchez. You had no problem making sure thousands of others did.
gypsy howell
Oh, by the way, MR Sanchez. How much am I shelling out for your retirement? How much are we paying you in life-long health benefits for you and your family, and all the other nice perks the military has carved out for itself at the expense of us taxpayers — perks most of the rest of us could never hope to see?
He might be retired, but he’ll be on the public teat for the rest of his life.
Oh, but now he wants redemption of his reputation too.
Just another parasite.
sashal
The problem I have with the general is that he criticizes Bush for “incompetence.”
The Wehrmacht in WWII was very “competent.” They accomplished “victories” that astounded the world before the sheer insanity of Hitler’s megalomania guaranteed their defeat. Competence in pursuit of an immoral goal is a vice, not a virtue.
The insane, neocon wet dream of making the Middle East part of Washington’s hegemony cannot yield good results, whether the military strategy is competent or not.
John S.
Because they like to cherrypick information like you?
But I agree, it’s more important that the media didn’t report how fucked up things were in Iraq more accurately than how fucked up things were in Iraq.
Yes, because going after a president who is guilty of bungling a war and costing us a huge toll in men and treasure is EXACTLY like going after a 12-year-old kid with brain damage who is guilty of receiving government healthcare and costing taxpayers thousands.
I see Graeme Frost is going to be your dead horse equivalent of Paul L.’s Duke rape case.
Redhand
Much as I am opposed to the Iraq war and the Bush Administration for starting it, gypsy howell’s comment here is pure dogshit. I grew up in a service family, where my father lost numerous friends and colleagues in operational flying accidents. See The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe for general background, especially the initial chapters.
Military retirement benefits have to be weighed against the danger to life and limb service personnel take even in peacetime, where the inherent risks of military activity take their toll in “operational accidents.” I don’t see gypsy howell risking his ass by serving in the military.
If you want to bitch about government retirement and medical benefits, gypsy, think about what members of Congress get. But spare me the histrionics and cheap shots about military service pensions. Here you don’t know what the f*ck you’re talking about.
Tom
When are all these phony soldiers going to stop attacking America?
chopper
in the gooper mindset, something a dem does is the equivilent of something far, far worse that you do.
“i went after a 12-year-old disabled kid? well, general sanchez called george bush incompetent!”
gypsy howell
spare me the sanctimonious crap, redhand.
It’s a job. It’s a paycheck. It’s a career.
And yes, I agree with your comments about Congress. When the rest of the citizenry get the same benefits Congress has have awarded themselves, I’ll stop bitching.
Catsy
The people criticizing Sanchez for not going public with his criticisms while he was in uniform also don’t know what they’re talking about. It wouldn’t have just been a career-limiting move, it would’ve been /against the law/–specifically, against the UCMJ.
Sanchez, of course, could have resigned in protest of policies he felt were counterproductive. If you think he or anyone in his position would be likely to do this, you need to talk to friends in the Army who lead other soldiers. Once you understand the sense of duty and obligation they feel towards those under their command, you’ll understand how reluctant any of them are to resign in protest of bad orders, thereby leaving “their” people in the lurch. Soldiers like Sanchez are much more likely to stick it out, thinking (correctly) that the best thing they can do for their people is to be in a position where they have the ability to do everything possible to keep them alive and help them succeed in their mission.
It’s easy to criticize Sanchez for not taking a stand while in uniform. Until you’ve been put in that kind of impossible position, I advise against it.
Redhand
Right, so they should get what they contracted for, which includes pensions and post retirement medical benefits. If you don’t like it, get Congress to change the military compensation system.
JoeTX
Which means, they are still working with the swift boaters to pour over his record and find some bits of dirt to work with.
jake
Clearly the zombie hordes of Frosties have gotten at the good general and are making him say these things.
I understand that a soldier (a non-phony one at any rate) can’t say anything while he is serving, but I sometimes wonder if these guys are worried about prosecution by an international tribunal [looks at Powell]. “Nuh uh! I didn’t wanna do it, the pResident made me!”
Not that this will help much, but even jail might beat hiding out in Cheney’s undisclosed location for the rest of whatever.
gypsy howell
It’s easy to criticize Sanchez for not taking a stand while in uniform. Until you’ve been put in that kind of impossible position, I advise against it.
Yeah, OK – That explains why he lied to Congress, denying that he had authorized torture techniques at Abu Ghraib. (I guess being in the military means you have immunity from the laws governing that sort of thing). That explains why he called the ACLU liars for challenging him on it. That’s why we heard a parade of lies and distortions from him week after week in his press conferences.
Yep, that sounds like an impossible sitation, alright.
Impossible to defend.
gypsy howell
Redhand, it seems there should be some behavior that would disqualify someone from getting those benefits. Basically admitting that you lied your ass off for the last 4 years to save your own career oughta be one of them.
Maybe if there were some consequences for their actions, we wouldn’t have this constant parade of generals who, from the cushy perch of their retirement, let on to the people who’ve been footing the bill all this time that “oops- we lied to you. Ha Ha! Chumps.”
Disgusting.
mattsmom
JoeTX, I doubt they will have to do much searching to find some dirt. Just do a wiki search on his name and you’ll find that he was in command in Iraq when the Abu Ghraib abuse was happening. As gypsy howell says, he lied to Congress.
Of course, they won’t want to bring this out in the open, so instead they will attack progressives for seeming to support Sanchez now, when we attacked him when he was lying to Congress.
It’s great that he is speaking out, but let’s make sure he is held responsible for what he’s done or what he allowed to be done in our name.
It’s always good for the Republicans. It’s always bad for progressives, the “Left”, the “Far Left”, the Democrats and anyone who doesn’t drink the kool-aid.
whippoorwill
As we all know Lambchop, it is the media’s fault the mis-begotten war in Iraq has become a nightmarish quagmire. If only they would print all the “good things” happening , things would much better.
Dave_Violence
http://www.militaryreporters.org/sanchez_101207.html
Looks like Sanchez (who I met in Kosovo) is upset (all caps is the way the speech is formatted):
He ends with:
He sounds like one of them horrible, awful Right-Wing Christian who should be locked up in an asylum as he’s not a red-blooded American rational atheist.
My own experience is that he’s a short guy who makes short jokes about people who are shorter than he is… but that was eight years ago…
Rudi
I’m tired of all these generals speaking up after leaving without much personal sacrifice. John Batiste is the only one who comes to mind that actually resigned because of the bad strategy known as Iraq. I watched the whole speech on CSPAN yesterday. Sanchez whined about troops dying, well he’s just as responsible as Rumsfeld and Bush. Hawking a book while not naming names makes him guilty of “dereliction of duty” as this administration.
ATS
“PRAISE BE TO THE LORD MY ROCK WHO TRAINS MY FINGERS FOR BATTLE”
A fitting litany for Moe, Larry and Curly. Or the other stooges: George, Dick and Don. Nyu nyu nyu.
Why, I oughta . . . . .
Punchy
eyem n ure h0uze, cha cha checkin 0u7 ure c0un7er 70pz
Punchy
By the way, is this the new phrase: “frosted”? Instead of swiftboated, now every attack on character is “getting frosted”? Something tells me that’ll violate a trademark held by some porn video producer…
jcricket
This has got to be the battle cry of the 101st fighting keyboard kommandoes!
Glory, glory hallelujah…. his blog goes marching on.
mclaren
So the American army is living a nightmare in Iraq with no end in sight, huh?
WHAT THE HELL ABOUT THE IRAQI PEOPLE???????????
What do you think they’re living in? Wait till your 12-year-old son gets dumped dead on your doorstep with power drill torture wounds all over his body. Then see what the definition of a “nightmare” is.
Wait till one million (1,000,000) of your countrymen are murdered, blown up, cluster-bombed, napalmed, roasted with white phosophorus, blown apart by 60 caliber machine guns, blasted into hamburger by JDAM bombs… Then see if you have any idea of what a “nightmare” really is.
Dennis-SGMM
– and my fist for love.
TenguPhule
Shorter Catsy: I haven no idea what the fuck I’m talking about.
USCMJ does not give generals leave to lie to Congress and the public nor does it excuse war crimes commited in uniform even if they were under orders.
Redhand
I think your comments about military pensions and benefits deflect attention from the real malefactors who need “consequences for their actions.” I refer of course to Bush, and the other civilian-control-of-the-military amateurs in this Administration who “knew better” and who should never have committed our forces to this sh*thole to begin with. It’s their recklessness and hubris that has killed and maimed thousands in an utterly meaningless conflict.
I admit that Sanchez is damaged goods because of his record in Iraq, but I still give him some credit for speaking out, even at this late date. I agree that the more honorable generals are those who quit early and cut off their careers to speak out. I especially admire a guy like John Batiste, who is profiled in this article.
I am certain John Shinseki who will go down in history as an unsung hero in this tragedy. You know, the Army Chief of Staff who absolutely nailed what was going to happen even before it started, because of the absurd, half-assed force levels insisted on by “Wirebrush” Rummy and puffed by that scum Wolfowitz. He was forced into retirement for his candor, and hasn’t spoken out since then, which is OK in my book because he spoke up when it really counted.
I am far less forgiving of Petraeus, who is all too willing to serve as Bush’s political water carrier in continuing this debacle.
CruzBustamove
But…but…but…Clinton!
TenguPhule
Not really. They all need to be lined up against the wall. Every single one of them.
The Civilians for doing it. The Military for Going Along. And the Press who laughed and clapped and pretended to be very serious people all the way down the shithole.
Catsy
If you can point to anywhere on earth I wrote that it did, you might have a point to make. Otherwise, you’re crediting me with something I didn’t say and using it to claim I don’t know what I’m talking about–which in most circles is known as “talking out of your ass”.
Less rectal-oral inversion, please.
TenguPhule
Shorter Catsy: I have a very short memory. It comes from seeing the world out of the back of my pants.
Sanchez is an asscovering fucker trying to avoid any blame from the shit that happened on his watch. That he was under orders under that ass Bush is not an excuse. His ‘leadership’ helped lead directly to the fuckups of today and that he changes his story now, instead of when he was duly obligated by his oath of service to report on the shit taking place in Iraq, speaks volumes about the coward’s lack of character.
Catsy
Then put up or shut up. If you think I said, anywhere, that the UCMJ gives anyone “leave to lie to Congress” or that it “excuse[s] war crimes commited in uniform even if they were under orders”, then fucking quote me. It shouldn’t be too hard, even for you; the thread is right here in front of you. You can even use Ctrl-F if reading that much text makes your head hurt.
Here, I’ll save you the trouble. I’ll even highlight the most relevant parts for you. What I said:
I defy you to find in there where I said anything about lying to Congress.
I defy you to find in there where I said anything about war crimes.
I said, simply, that military leaders do not resign in protest of orders they don’t like, or that they think are counterproductive. They just don’t, not if they feel half the sense of duty and obligation to their men that any good leader does.
If you can find anywhere on the internets–anywhere–where I said anything remotely close to the asshattery you’re accusing me of, then nut up and provide a link and a direct quote.
Otherwise, shut the fuck up. You’re embarassing yourself.