Salon: The War According to David Hackworth

[kskiska]

The retired colonel calls Donald Rumsfeld an "asshole" whose bad planning mired U.S. troops in an ugly guerrilla conflict in Iraq. His sources? Defiant soldiers sending dispatches from the front.

Retired U.S. Army Col. David Hackworth is a cocky American military commander who for half a century was at the front lines of the Army's most important battles. Most recently, though, Hackworth has been at the front lines of a domestic war: the debate over U.S. military strategy in Iraq, and whether the Bush administration planned well enough to achieve a decisive military victory and keep the postwar peace.

Hackworth was everywhere on cable television during the first days of the war, when early military setbacks convinced him and other retired military leaders that the administration, whose backers sold the conflict as a "cakewalk," hadn't sent enough troops to quell Iraqi resistance. He wrote a widely quoted column headlined "Stuck in the Quicksand" in early April -- just as the tide seemed to turn and the pace of victory picked up again. Though he is a colonel by rank, Hackworth was counted among the so-called "television generals" the administration blasted after Baghdad fell, and many conservative admirers turned against him.

But now, with American soldiers still dying almost daily in Iraq, the tide of opinion may be turning again, in favor of Hackworth's argument that the administration was unprepared for what's turning out to be a long-term guerrilla resistance in Iraq. Today the primary front of Hackworth's war of opinion isn't cable television, but a pair of Web sites -- Soldiers for the Truth and his own site, Hackworth.com -- where he's campaigning to document the dire fate of U.S. troops in Iraq. The sites have quickly become a repository for the gripes and fears of America's beleaguered combat troops.

(snip)

"Soldiers are living in the dirt, with no mail, no phone, no contact with home, and no break from the daily monotony at all. I practically got in a fist fight with this captain over letting my private send an e-mail over his office's internet. This clown spends his days sending flowers to his wife and surfing the net. Fucking disgraceful and all too typical of today's Army."

"Soldiers get literally hundreds of flea or mosquito bites and they can't get cream or Benadryl to keep the damn things from itching ... .I am not talking about bringing in the steak and lobster every week. I am talking about basic health and safety issues that continue to be neglected by the Army."

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2003/08/04/hackworth/index.html

[bemildred]

1. Tsk. Hackworth sounds "risk averse".

[Frances]

3. Actually, he sounds like

someone who liked being a soldier. He just thinks Rumsfeld did a lousy job of planning the war.

[bemildred]

10. He's right.

[FDRLincoln]

2. hack

Hackworth is arrogant himself, and was too hard on Clinton. But everything he writes here is true. He is a soldier's soldier.

He also answers his email...at least he's answered mine on several occasions.

[WCGreen]

13. Interestingly enough,

after an appereince on CSpan, I EMAiled him and took him to task for getting on Clinton for his lack of military understanding while the military and he seemed to be giving Bush 43 the benifit of the doubt as to his military experience.

I pointed out to him that he would be much more credible if he stopped the easy swipes at Clinton or at least also chastized the current occupant for being also lacking in military experience. This was long before the run up to the Iraqi invasion.

Well, to my surprise, he sent me back a nice tight EMail thanking me for pointing that out and apologized for taking the easy way out. He claimed, and now I nelieve him more, that his only concern is the safety of the men who are sent into harm's way for political reasons.

I also noticed that the tone of his Clinton attacks really calmed a bit and he really took after the Chickenhawks in the current administration. I can't find the EMail now but I believe I saved it on a disk, It's back from 10-11/01.....

Interesting guy....

[OrdinaryTa]

4. Disappointed With "About Face"

Hackworth's biography "About Face" was described to me so enthusiastically that I assumed it was practically required reading. But after a couple of chapters I was bored with his nonstop bragging about himself.

His schtick is that he's really an enlisted man in his heart. Although he was battlefield promoted to lieutenant, he's maintained an EM's viewpoint that all officers are assholes. But since he was an officer himself, it follows that he too is something of an asshole. The thought never occurs to him.

BTW, Donald Rumsfeld, not the generals, made the decision to go into Iraq without sufficient manpower. Secretary of the Army Thomas White and Chief of Staff General Eric Shinkesi both opposed the idea as foolish. Rumsfeld fired White and forced Shinkesi into early retirement. General Tommy Franks also retired somewhat abruptly.

[Redleg]

5. Cut Hack some slack- he is the most highly decorated living soldier

Yes, he is arrogant but many career military officers are. If he speaks the truth he speaks the truth.

His report sounds right on target based on what I have heard from my sources still in the Army.

[w4rma]

6. Hackworth is awesome. I've been popping over to his site every so often

He's a good guy and he CARES about the soldiers. I have ALOT of respect for Col. Hackworth.

It would be a good idea, IMHO, for some progressive media outlets to interview Hack on this FUBAR of an occupation.

[teryang]

7. Hackworth hardly contained his glee

...at the slaughter preceding the "fall of Bhagdad." His reservations about guerilla war were a mere footnote to his effusive participation in the self congratulatory "victory" orgy on television.

While the hardships endured by our ground troops may be mitigated by better leadership in the rear and the field, providing better support to soldiers in the field will not fix this ill considered and illegal war, nor will it stop the daily casualties. He never once questioned the propriety or justification for the unwarranted invasion.

[FDRLincoln]

9. not true

That's not true, before the war I read a couple of columns by him calling into question the whole endeavour, particularly the neocon rationale for doing it now. So Hack had questions about this before it all began.

He's not perfect and was a Clinton-basher when that was trendy. But he's been out in front on this Iraq thing, and has been particularly hard on the failures of the occupation.

[teryang]

11. Not true?

I guess I am incapable of understanding what I observed on television of his performance for two or three days running. He was crowing with all the other right wing generals. He sounded no different than killer McCaffrey. He totally lost his detached perspective and put the helmet back on.

War is political. It isn't about technique. It isn't about "winning the peace." There is no reason to celebrate the killing, no matter how technically proficient or impressive it may be. But that's what he did, for days on end. To add insult to injury, he celebrated an invasion for a political objective that was and is dead wrong and doomed to failure. The soldiers he supports will continue to be maimed and wounded despite the "awesome" power of the killing machine which he praised, with gusto and great enthusiasm. I was quite shocked actually because I thought he was more circumspect than this.

He was caught up in the folly like most Americans. I'd be interested to see the articles which prove otherwise. And I'm not talking about timing or logistics or numbers. I'd like to see where he opposed this conflict rather than just criticizing its execution.

[jbfam4]

8. Hack used to be on FAUX

No wonder why I haven't seen Hack on Hannity and Colmes or the rest of the FAUX programs.........he was a regular when he was bashing Clinton with Hannity.......guess he served his purpose..so much for fair and balanced.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. Hackworth is a soldier's soldier.

He speaks what the truth instead of what the establihment (a.k.a Rumsfeld) wants to hear. The truth of the matter is there are many on this board who have eaten more dirt than the freeper chickenhawks who support this ill concieved war.