Pentagon mulls replacing top general in Iraq

[JoFerret]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040525/ts_nm/iraq_usa_sanchez_dc&cid=564&ncid=1480

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon (news - web sites) is considering replacing Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez as the top U.S. military officer in Iraq (news - web sites), defense officials said on Monday, but denied the Abu Ghraib Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal was the reason.

A senior defense official noted that Sanchez has served in Iraq for 13 months and that Army and Marine Corps division commanders all have rotated out of the country during that period.


When asked if the prisoner abuse scandal, which took place on Sanchez's watch, was the reason for considering a replacement for the general, this official said, "Absolutely not."


Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman refused to confirm or deny an ABC News report that Gen. George Casey, vice chief of staff of the Army, would take over as senior U.S. military officer in Iraq.


"If we had something like that to announce, we would. Any speculation prior to an announcement would be irresponsible," Whitman said.


Sanchez became the top U.S. general in Iraq last June.

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[Spinzonner]

1. Perhaps no senior officer should stay

any less than the longest enlisted man is required to stay in-country.

We'll see how many extensions there are then.

[saigon68]

2. Greasy Pistol "BOY" Sanchez



SORRY SANCHEZ a/k/a Pistol Boy consiglieri to the Viceroy Pontius Paul Bremer I

His quote “ We are going to Kill the Shia Cleric Criminal Muqtada al-Sadr !! ”

SORRY PISTOL BOY also set the tone for loosening TONGUES at Abu Ghraib Prison



A U.S. soldier holds a trained dog in front of an Iraqi detainee inside the Abu Ghraib Prison, west
of Baghdad in this undated photo. Hundreds of unreleased photographs and short digital videos
depict U.S. soldiers using a wide variety of abusive techniques at Iraq news - web sites)'s Abu
Ghraib prison and appearing to enjoy the mistreatment, The Washington Post reported on May
21, 2004. Photo by Washington Post/Reuters

Sanchez also allowed his troops to use the Famous “WHITE CHAIR"



[LagaLover]

18. What a freaking racist comment!

Had to get that "greasy hispanic" sterotype in there didn't you?

[symbolman]

3. MORE denial

how about MILLER and Sanchez BOTH being incarcerated in Abu?..

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Hold it BGen Karpinksy has been suspended

and they are thinking of REPLACING LtGen Sanches?

But they are not connected.

RIIIGGGHHHHTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I have another helping of gullibility?

[JoFerret]

11. Double standard?

.

[lumpy]

5. This move is transparent as my shower curtain

liner. 13 months living in the palace has broken down Sanchez, it's really tough being a general. yeah.

[0007]

9. News from the gang that can't shoot straight

Holy fuck, why didn't junior tell his military boys tonight at the big speech, that Sanchez was going down?

I think the Pentagon is about as fucked up as the White House and a few active Generals.

[teryang]

6. Once publicly labeled a liar

...an Army officer is finished. Like Abu Ghraid, it isn't the crime, it's the public perception of the institution.

The fascist policy of torture and ignoring the Conventions is totally at odds with Army tradition. The conflict inevitably reaches the top ranking officers who lied (they call it plausible deniability) out of misperceived sense of duty to the politicos at the top who ordered the policy. These guys' political instincts were all wrong. Notice that many judge advocates at high and low ranks ran for cover early.

The same is true of Miller and Abizaid. It's the only way to stop the bleeding. This is a political emergency. I'm sure they would like to wait till July 1, to make it look orderly, but it could become a rout very soon.

[UpInArms]

7. the rule seems to be

never ever ever take responsibility - to tie him to the Abu Ghraib would be to say there was a price to be paid - therefore any speculation would be "irresponsible".

[Eloriel]

15. I dunno. Chris Matthews said tonight that rumors are that

he's getting his 4th star right away too. Doesn't sound like anything but rewards for a job well done.

[teryang]

21. They're having it both ways

He's being relieved for a job well done. It's just a regular rotation. Right?

[Jacobin]

8. Yeah. He'll be on a sabbatical at the Hague for war crimes.

[JoFerret]

10. He's toast

...now for the spin on the reasons.

[UTUSN]

12. Kicking to Find Out Where This Thread IS n/t

[deminflorida]

13. Gen. Barbara Fast...

Former head of Military Intelligence in Iraq is the direct link to Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush....

Get her in front of Congress and the house of Neo-Con Cards will collapse.

Mark my words, the army would not have wisked her off to Arizona so fast if she wasn't the direct link to the civilian administration.

[maddezmom]

16. and Capt Wood

[daleo]

14. Recall the story about a soldier claiming Sanchez was at torture sessions?

The pentagon denied it, but then a couple of days later, Sanchez is being replaced? It doesn't look good.

[dusty64]

17. Nothing to do with

the torture scandal, somehow I'm skeptical (now why would that be?).

[NashVegas]

19. kick

..

[maddezmom]

20. Gen Casey as the replacement??

~~~~
It is not clear what will happen to Sanchez. For months senior commanders have said privately that plans envisioned a new role for him, possibly as head of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in South America, the Caribbean and most of Central America. But that position requires a congressional confirmation hearing, which would be likely to lead to a new round of questions about the Abu Ghraib scandal and Sanchez's actions in dealing with it.

Sanchez commands most regular Army and Marine units in Iraq. But there are four other U.S. three-star generals in Iraq. The new commander will outrank all those officers and, unlike Sanchez, will also have authority over all U.S. military units there, including Special Operations forces and the Iraq Survey Group, which focuses on searching for weapons of mass destruction.

The leading contender for the new, four-star job has been Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army's second-in-command, officials said. The other senior officer under consideration for the post is Army Lt. Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. But several officials said yesterday that Rumsfeld seemed in the past week to pull back from formally proposing Craddock.
~~~~~~~~

But retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who commanded Sanchez in the 1991 Gulf War, remembered Sanchez, who led a battalion in McCaffrey's 24th Infantry Division, as one of his best subordinate commanders. "A terrific combat commander, led from the front, great personal courage, soldiers trusted him," McCaffrey said.

Even so, McCaffrey was less than glowing in his assessment of Sanchez's performance in Iraq.

"I think Rick got sucked into Bremer's CPA and rarely broke out of his orbit," McCaffrey said, referring to the Coalition Provisional Authority, headed by civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52980-2004May24.html


Interesting comments about Sanchez and Bremer from Gen. McCaffrery.