“Rumsfeld had a Cow”

[Montagnard]

(page 97 COBRA II)


Working on a brief that Franks was to give to Bush (pre-invasion), Rumesfeld had a “cow” regarding the size of the Army forces on the troop request list (requested by Lt. General Robert McKiernan, who was to run the land operations for the Iraq invasion.). Rumsfeld was pouring through the deployment requests and insisting that CENTCOM explain why it needed additional forces. (Most of this was taken from COBRA !!)

In retrospect, the answer to Rumsfeld could have been, “So future troops will not die because we fail to secure munition dumps.” The deaths from roadside bombs can be laid at the feet of Rumesfeld and his do a war on the cheap. I wonder how that old man sleeps at night, he must be utterly insensitive to the dead and injured for which he is totally responsible.

[Warpy]

1. Rumsfeld's whole career has been staked on the proposition

that the lesson of Vietnam was that all future wars would be guerrilla wars and needed to be countered with a small, highly mobile, technologized army.

Alas, the true lesson of Vietnam was that people who had next to nothing would fight like hell to keep it no matter what kind of army got thrown at them to take it away.

The true lesson of Vietnam is that wars of occupation can't be won. Oh, utter brutality and wholesale slaughter will keep the population demoralized and quiet for a while, but eventually they rise up again and again.

The true lesson of Vietnam was not to do that sort of thing ever again.

[porphyrian]

2. At first, I thought you were calling him a cow-fucker.

Do you have any evidence that he isn't a cow-fucker?

[Montagnard]

4. I would not dispute that thought

Facts be damned.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Is there any doubt?

"he must be totally insensitive to the dead and injured for which he is totally responsible."

<snip>
"Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?" Wilson asked.

The question prompted cheers from some of the approximately 2,300 troops assembled in the large hangar to hear Rumsfeld deliver a pep talk at what the Pentagon called a town hall meeting.

<snip>

"As you know, you have to go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want," Rumsfeld said.

He added, "You can have all the armor in the world on a tank, and it can be blown up."

<snip>

more...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/08/rumsfeld.troops/

[hootinholler]

5. Got a link?

I'm not familiar with COBRA

-Hoot

[reichstag911]

6. See...

... http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375422625/qid=1144968086/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6310346-2576623?v=glance&s=books .

[rniel]

7. there are known knowables

and knowables that we know about. Then there are the unknown knowables than we don't know about.

Ok I don't have the exact quote. But don't you hate that swarmy bastard.