Hackworth again

P36 · 07-01-2004, 08:53

DefenseWatch (sftt.org)
June 28, 2004
Sack 'Em And Rack 'Em
By David H. Hackworth
America would be a whole lot safer if the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, was flying for Virgin Airlines, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was competing on "Survivor." Both war leaders have done so miserable a job honchoing the military side of our critical conflict against global terrorism, and in the process so jeopardized our national
security, that they should be sacked for dereliction of duty.
Contrary to continuing political spin, Iraq and Afghanistan both are running sores with little promise of even a long-term turnaround, and our world today is far more dangerous than it was before 9/11. Unless there's a 180-degree change in overall strategy, the USA is doomed to follow the same bloody path through these two brutal killing fields that the Soviet Union
took in Afghanistan. The mighty sword that Rumsfeld and Myers inherited four years ago - the finest military force in the world - is now chipped and dulled. And the word is that it will take at least a decade to get our overextended, bone-tired soldiers and Marines and their worn-out gear back in shape. Top generals like former NATO commander Wes Clark and a squad of retired and
active-duty four-stars warned long before the invasion of Iraq: Don't go there. It doesn't involve our national security. It's not the main objective in our war with international terrorism. Even retired four-star Colin Powell said that if we go to Iraq and break the china, we own it. But know-it-all Rumsfeld and go-along-to-get-along Myers totally ignored this sound military advice.
Before the invasion of Iraq, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, a distinguished soldier with counter-guerrilla campaigns in Vietnam and Bosnia under his pistol belt, was asked by Congress how many soldiers he thought would be needed for the occupation phase in Iraq. His response: A minimum of
200,000. Rumsfeld treated this courageous soldier - who left half a foot in the Vietnam Delta - like a leper for telling a truth that was obviously contrary to party lockstep. And Shinseki's spot-on troop estimate was discredited and ridiculed by senior Pentagon chicken hawks like Paul Wolfowitz, a man who dodged the draft during Vietnam and wouldn't know a tank from a Toyota.
Even though Rumsfeld and Myers know zilch about ground fighting in an insurgent environment, they were convinced "Shock 'n' Awe" would do thetrick, just as another military dilettante, former SecDef Robert McNamara,
believed the big hammer would win in Vietnam, a war where the USA dropped three times the bomb tonnage and used twice the artillery firepower than was used in all of World War II.
Space doesn't allow for the long laundry list of what went wrong after the Iraqi army was predictably defeated by a brilliant "Wham, Bam, Goodbye Saddam" air-and-ground attack and the present occupation phase kicked off.
But the key screw-ups are:
* Our ground units went in far too light. They didn't have - and still don't have - sufficiently trained numbers and the right force mix to cope with the growing mess on the ground.
* There wasn't an effective plan to deal with the looting, rioting and civil disorder or the early insurgent attacks. Army and Marine skippers in Iraq from company to division tried to put out four-alarm fires without sufficient force, equipment and logistics. Crisis management prevailed.
* Iraqi police, civil-defense corps, the regular army and border-patrol units - which could have prevented much of the chaos and civil disobedience that followed - were precipitously disbanded.
In this column on April 1, 2003, when many Americans and all the White House and Pentagon war hawks were gloating about the easy victory in Iraq, Iwrote: "Hopefully ... he (G.W. Bush) won't make the mistake of another Texaspresident who didn't sack his SecDef and Joint Chiefs chairman straight awayfor their screw-ups" (See "Stuck in the Quicksand," DefenseWatch, Apr. 1,
2003).Fox's Brit Hume publicly ridiculed my analysis, much like Wolfowitz did Shinseki's I wonder if Hume and Wolfowitz like their crow served hot or cold.Our president says he's not big on reading newspapers. But perhaps former librarian Laura will share this column with her husband and suggest hefollow Harry Truman's example of firing his inept SecDef when the Korean Warwas going badly.
--Eilhys England contributed to this column.

VMI_Marine · 07-02-2004, 06:09

I lost all respect for Hackworth after reading about his treatment of Mike Durant. He may have done some great things 50-60 years ago, but that doesn't exscuse his conduct now.

Guy · 07-02-2004, 06:57

Has anyone seen an article where he was not complaining?

brewmonkey · 07-02-2004, 07:28

Quote:

Originally posted by Guy
Has anyone seen an article where he was not complaining?

Didn't know that one existed.

**The Reaper** · 07-02-2004, 08:35

He left out his usual rant about the M-16.

Other than that (not denying that there is usually some basis in what he says), typical Hack diatribe.

TR

P36 · 07-02-2004, 11:12

"The mighty sword that Rumsfeld and Myers inherited four years ago - the finest military force in the world - is now chipped and dulled. And the word is that it will take at least a decade to get our overextended, bone-tired soldiers and Marines and their worn-out gear back in shape"

-THIS is the quote that really got me in his article. Are we talking the same Military he wrote about during Clinton's tenure-overdeployed-underfunded-focused on COOP training-EO and the Homosexual agenda-that Military? Gee, how things look rosier in hindsight!

"Top generals like former NATO commander Wes Clark and a squad of retired and active-duty four-stars warned long before the invasion of Iraq: Don't go there."{

-If you'll scroll through his archive, you'll see the same dire warnings about Serbia and Bosnia. Who was in charge then?

Adam White · 07-02-2004, 18:14

Quote:

Originally posted by P36
"The mighty sword that Rumsfeld and Myers inherited four years ago - the finest military force in the world - is now chipped and dulled. And the word is that it will take at least a decade to get our overextended, bone-tired soldiers and Marines and their worn-out gear back in shape"

-THIS is the quote that really got me in his article. Are we talking the same Military he wrote about during Clinton's tenure-overdeployed-underfunded-focused on COOP training-EO and the Homosexual agenda-that Military? Gee, how things look rosier in hindsight!

"Top generals like former NATO commander Wes Clark and a squad of retired and active-duty four-stars warned long before the invasion of Iraq: Don't go there."{

-If you'll scroll through his archive, you'll see the same dire warnings about Serbia and Bosnia. Who was in charge then?

Good catches.

You could probably fill a book with his inconsistencies.

He offers no real solutions, just exaggerated problems.

I found his portrayal of GEN Shinseki particularly intriguing - this was, after all, the same general he ridiculed as a clueless "perfumed prince" just a few years back during the beret debacle. IIRC, Hack has also ranted similarly against Shinseki regarding the Stryker. I guess when he and Hack seem to be in agreement. Shinseki suddenly becomes "a distinguished soldier with counter-guerrilla campaigns in Vietnam and Bosnia under his pistol belt."

NousDefionsDoc · 07-02-2004, 18:34

Needs to put down the bong or restrict his column to Weed Magazine.