This time it is Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in Iraq from mid-2003 to mid-2004. Scott Horton over at Harpers has more:
For three months now, Sanchez has been making off-the-record statements. He eventually came to the conclusion, he says, that Republican politics had trumped the national security interests of the United States in the execution of plans in Iraq. The Bush Administration had not planned to win in Iraq, but simply to keep a war running so Bush could run around and play “war president.” That is as devastating a criticism as any general has made of a president since the days of Douglas MacArthur. Unlike MacArthur’s criticisms, however, it has the advantage of being accurate.
Here's part of what Sanchez said:
My assessment is that we have a crisis in national political leadership. When will America recognize the danger we face? When will the corrosive partisanship of American politics end and allow for a bipartisan solution to arguably the most dangerous threat our nation has faced in over 60 years?
As Horton reminds us, there are now more than 20 retired generals and admirals who have openly broke ranks with their former Commander in Chief during a time of war. This is, to put it mildly, unprecedented.
For the past week we've watched and listened as pundits and politicians inside the Beltway wailed about how we must respect our generals when they speak, and how we must never, ever question their credibility. To do so during a time of war is simply more than this nation could possibly bear. And yet somehow, almost as if by magic, the logic of this argument is only applied to one man.
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