and now there are SIX generals.. a new one (Swannack)

[SoCalDem]

just came out... 82nd airborne... Pretty soon the active duty ones may get brave enough to join in..or maybe a "mass retirement".. :shrug:

[SoFlaJet]

1. Wow

my father was 82nd AA-when one of THESE guys comes out with something like this-it's B-I-G

[CottonBear]

2. Brian Kilmeade on Faux News was freaking out about the generals

speaking out about the war and their oppostion to Rumsfield and the whole disaster that is Iraq.

It was really fun to watch Brian's tiny mind try to reconcile the "support the troops" mantra and the fact that the troops don't support DimSon and his evil gang.

[Klukie]

7. Kilmeade is one of the...

biggest assholes on television. I can't stand him. I can't wait until all of these jerks have to report on the demise of their fearless leaders.

[CottonBear]

14. Oh that will be a moment to remember. Their heads might explode.

:evilgrin:

[SoCalDem]

3. "More Generals Turn on Rumsfeld"- Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1754096,00.html


More US generals turn on Rumsfeld

Staff and agencies
Friday April 14, 2006


Donald Rumsfeld insists during the Iraq war that the US will accept nothing but 'total surrender'. Photograph: AP



Two more retired US generals called overnight on Donald Rumsfeld to resign as US defence secretary, adding to a deepening rift within the Pentagon.
Six generals - two of whom commanded troops in Iraq - have now called on Mr Rumsfeld to stand down over his leadership of the war.

Retired Major General Charles Swannack, who led the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, said Mr Rumsfeld, 73, had "micromanaged the generals who are leading our forces".

snip

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

8. Wow!....Glad To See This Is Getting Press....

Too bad the article is from England.

Gotta love that U.S. media. Better to spend time covering Jesus' face on a coffee cup. Much more important than some insignificant war overseas.

We're fighting them over there, so we can pray to a Cup over here!

[SoCalDem]

9. or a cocoa stain on a dirty cup

If there really IS a "guy in the sky", he's probably shitting himself at what idiots we are..
worshiping grease stains on driveways, food residue, burnt toast, antique cheese sandwiches..

Talk about worshiping graven idols :)

[Cleita]

16. Why are they stopping at Rumsfeld? Why not ask for the

resignations of Bush and Cheney as well, the dynamic duo who gave Rumsfeld his office?

It works for me.

[peacetalksforall]

4. So when will these six be attacked as unpatriotic? Traitors to their

young kid soldiers? Is it coming? Or is Rush, Pat, Fred, and Jerry already doing it?

[SoCalDem]

5. They are being attacked as "unpatriotic and treasonous"

yet sending soldiers to die unnecessarily is somehow OK :shrug:

[kenny blankenship]

6. SIX Count them Brian, SIX Generals calling for Rumsfeld's resignation

SIX Generals

Can you count this high, Brian? Oh we'll have a high old time at the Castle the night when Bloody Rummy comes shambling home!

[SoCalDem]

11. aaaah.. the Count.. perfect

I love that little guy:)

[CatWoman]

21. bwahahahahaha

I love the "count"

[benburch]

10. Where is Wes Clark in all this?

He should step forward with (at least) his reasons why he won't join this.

[Virginia Dare]

15. Good question...

I heard an anecdotal story last year that there was a group of retired Generals and other high-level officers who were ready to support Wes for President. These guys were all staunch Republicans. Maybe this is the core that is now beginning to speak out.

[KittyWampus]

22. Wes Clark's the one who has been encouraging retired Generals to speak out

and it's a crying shame that you don't know that.

Really.

It's probably due to him that these 6 actually have.

That is not an embellishment of truth, either.

Clark has been specifically calling for retired genrals to do this since the last election.

[benburch]

25. OK!

See? He needs to toot his own horn a bit more. He needs to be online here with the rest of us or have his people be online here and say this stuff.

[SalviaBlue]

12. Batiste wants someone held accountable

On the Today Show this morning. He said "someone needs to be held accountable for what happened FIVE years ago".

He also said he had been uncomfortable with the situation for FIVE years but is speaking out now because he was only a 1 star then and he thinks people will be more likely to listen now than then. He said "people are starting to ask questions."

What happened FIVE years ago that someone needs to be accountable for??

[SoCalDem]

13. Rumsfeld's "Gut the military" plan

You know.. smaller, faster, cheaper...

The repubes have this fantasy about how "Clinton gutted the military"? THEY gutted it WHILE they were planning multiple wars..that's criminal

[SalviaBlue]

17. Thanks...

All I could come up w/ was 911. It seemed perfectly plausible to me that he was saying someone needed to be held accountable for 911. It is more plausible that he meant the gut the military plan which I'm sure was part of the "shrink the gov so small it could be drowned in a bathtub" plan.

[SoCalDem]

18. Forgot to welcome you to DU

[SalviaBlue]

23. Thanks for the welcome!!

[leftstreet]

26. I would have thought the same thing if I'd heard it

:hi:
Given that he's known Paul Wolfowitz for some time. And Wolfowitz was one of the "war architects."

In the latest in a torrent of criticism centred on the Pentagon chief, Major General John Batiste, who led a division in Iraq, said Mr Rumsfeld's authoritarian leadership style had made it more difficult for professional soldiers. "We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork," he told CNN on Wednesday.

Gen Batiste's comments were especially startling because he is so closely associated with the civilian leadership, having served as an aide to one of the architects of the war, the former deputy Pentagon chief Paul Wolfowitz.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1753854,00.html

(Photo at link)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (left) meets with Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer (foreground) in the Pentagon on March 21, 2001. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Bernd McConnell (center), and Brig. Gen. John Batiste, U.S. Army, joined Wolfowitz in the meeting with Downer and Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Thawley (right). DoD photo by R. D. Ward. (Released)
http://www.defenselink.mil/photos/Mar2001/010321-D-9880W-121.html

Wolfowitz signed PNAC's Statement of Principles June 1997
http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

[dogday]

19. Read from this article below:

<snip>

Even as some of their retired colleagues spoke out publicly about Mr. Rumsfeld, other senior officers, retired and active alike, had to be promised anonymity before they would discuss their own views of why the criticism of him was mounting. Some were concerned about what would happen to them if they spoke openly, others about damage to the military that might result from amplifying the debate, and some about talking outside of channels, which in military circles is often viewed as inappropriate.

</snip>

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0414-09.htm

[SoCalDem]

20. Yep.. Our "Yooniter-not-a-divider" in chief has sure done a number

on everything he touches.. He has managed to ruin the military,ruin the futures of most of us, ruin our financial standing in the world, pit half the people against the other half, and create enemies for Americans everywhere we look..

He's a real pip

[Neil Lisst]

24. Clearly, they have developed a plan to bring the real "generals"

on the ground into the argument.

I am very, very impressed that these guys who have been lifelong soldiers, lifelong Republicans, who are standing up to stop this madness. They realize better than anyone that this war and the one planned next will not accomplish anything but get US soldiers killed and hurt the US in the world community.