The Ground Commander Speaks

By Scott Horton

One of the most laughable lies dished out by the president’s enablers is that he simply follows and implements the decisions of his generals on the ground. In fact he consistently ignored them, accused them of “whining” in more than one phone briefing in which they attempted to engage him about problems they faced on the ground, and then fired or moved those whose discontent became public. In cases I have documented earlier, generals were subjected to humiliating tricks after their opinions became a matter of public knowledge. So: permission to speak freely. General Paul D. Eaton, Bush’s former ground commander in Iraq, offers his commander-in-chief a harsh assessment:

Respectfully, as your former commander on the ground, your administration did not listen to our best advice. In fact, a number of my fellow Generals were forced out of their jobs, because they did not tell you what you wanted to hear—most notably General Eric Shinseki, whose foresight regarding troop levels was advice you rejected, at our troops' peril.

The legislation you vetoed today represented a course of action that is long overdue. This war can no longer be won by the military alone. We must bring to bear the entire array of national power—military, diplomatic and economic. The situation demands a surge in diplomacy, and pressure on the Iraqi government to fix its internal affairs. Further, the Army and Marine Corps are on the verge of breaking—or have been broken already—by the length and intensity of this war. This tempo is not sustainable—and you have failed to grow the ground forces to meet national security needs. We must begin the process of bringing troops home, and repairing and growing our military, if we are ever to have a combat-ready force for the long war on terror ahead of us.

The bill you rejected today sets benchmarks for success that the Iraqis would have to meet, and puts us on a course to redeploy our troops. It stresses the need for sending troops into battle only when they are rested, trained and equipped. In my view, and in the view of many others in the military that I know, that is the best course of action for our security.