Audio links from today's Senate (Democrats) hearings on Iraq
General Batiste:...Donald Rumsfeld is not a competent wartime leader. He knows everything except how to win."
General Batiste: "Secretary Rumsfeld's dismal strategic decisions resulted in the unnecessary deaths of American service men and women, our allies and the good people of Iraq. He was responsible for America and our allies going to war with the wrong plan and a strategy that did not address the realities of fighting an insurgency. Secretary Rumsfeld built his team by systematically removing dissension. America went to war with his plan. To say that he listens to his generals is disingenuous. We are fighting with his strategy. He reduced force levels to unacceptable levels, micromanaged the war, and caused delays in the approval of troop requirements in the deployment process, which tied the hands of commanders while our troops were in contact with the enemy...
General Eaton: "Mr. Rumsfeld came in to transform the US military. To turn the Army into a lighter, more lethal armed force. In fact, Rumsfeld's vision is a force designed to meet a Warsaw Pact type force more effectively - but we are not fighting the Warsaw Pact. We are fighting an insurgency: a distributed low-tech, high-concept war that demands greater numbers of ground forces, not fewer. Mr. Rumsfeld won't acknowledge this fact. And he has failed to adapt to the current situation. He has tried and continues to fight this war on the cheap."