Anatomy of a Revolt: What made a chorus of ex-generals call for the SecDef

[Judi Lynn]

Anatomy of a Revolt
What made a chorus of ex-generals call for the SecDef's head? The war over the war—and how Rumsfeld is reacting.

By Evan Thomas and John Barry
Newsweek

April 24, 2006 issue - Gen. Eric Shinseki, former chief of staff of the Army, says he is "at peace." But reached last week, he didn't sound all that peaceful. In the winter of 2003, alone among the top brass, Shinseki had warned Congress that occupying Iraq would require "several hundred thousand troops." Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, had rewarded Shinseki for his honesty by publicly castigating and shunning him.

Last fall, Shinseki went to the 40th reunion of the class of '65 at West Point. It has been reported that his classmates were wearing caps emblazoned RIC WAS RIGHT. Last week NEWSWEEK e-mailed Shinseki to ask about the reports. Shinseki called back to say he had heard "rumors" about the caps. But, NEWSWEEK asked, wasn't he there? "Well," he replied, "I saw a cap."

Shinseki, who has retired to Hawaii, was clearly uncomfortable with the role of martyr. He had no desire to join the chorus of retired generals calling for Rumsfeld's resignation. He was circumspect about criticizing Rumsfeld at all, but he seemed to be struggling to disguise his feelings. He pointedly said that the "person who should decide on the number of troops is the combatant commander"—Gen. Tommy Franks, and not Rumsfeld.

Some critics have argued that Shinseki should have banged on the table, pushed harder to stop Rumsfeld from going into Iraq with too few troops. How does Shinseki respond? "Probably that's fair. Not my style," said the old soldier, who nearly lost a foot in combat in Vietnam. There was, he added cryptically, "a lot of turmoil" at the Pentagon in the lead-up to the war. Was that Rumsfeld's fault? "Partly," said Shinseki. Did Rumsfeld bully General Franks, the overall invasion commander? "You'll have to ask Franks," said Shinseki, who indicated that he had talked long enough. "I walked away from all this two and a half years ago," he said.
(snip/...)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12335719/site/newsweek/

[wakeme2008]

1. IMHO -- retired generals still know what is going on in the military

and the Nuc option is on the table and being pushed and they are afraid it will be used

[Hekate]

2. Shinseki comes from a polite culture

It's probably safe to say that no one gets to be a general by being a pushover; but Eric Shinseki comes from my home state of Hawaii, and he's Japanese-American. Civility is valued nearly as highly as being extremely competent -- you just don't get anyplace by being sarcastic and disrespectful the way Rumsfeld is with everyone he comes in contact with.

Btw, I love this line, which speaks to the pervasive Chickenhawk culture of the * administration:

>...Newbold has a point when he writes that the decision "was done
> with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of
> those who have never had to execute these missions -- or bury the
> results."

Hekate

[izzie]

3. I had trouble getting passed the picture. What is the figure-----

behind Bush that Rumsfeld is standing in the same way? Some reason I just could not get those two things out of my mind. Any one know what Bush puts up in the office? It may tell us some thing about what he thinks is really part of his thinking or aims to, or makes him feel at ease.