DiRita’s Deceitful Reponse to American Progress
American Progress fellow Larry Korb recently published an op-ed that drew a response this past weekend from Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita.
Korb had argued that the Bush administration’s repeated failure to heed the advice of top military commanders about troop levels in Iraq had not only undercut the mission, but severely weakened our military. “Gen. Maxwell Taylor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for President Lyndon Johnson, said that while we sent the Army to Vietnam to save Vietnam, we had to withdraw to save the Army,” Korb wrote. “This is where we are today.”
DiRita was incredulous:
Korb is looking for something that doesn’t exist: a difference in views between civilian leaders and military commanders regarding force levels in Iraq. The President, Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld and military commanders have all consistently said — and believed — that the conflict against extremists in Iraq will ultimately have to be fought and won by Iraqis.
One doesn’t have to look far to discredit DiRita’s argument — examples of U.S. forces on the ground disagreeing with current troop levels are numerous.
But it’s notable that DiRita wants to shift the focus to the number of Iraqi troops, rather than the number of U.S. forces. Just a few months ago, we learned that one of the military commanders who apparently disagreed with U.S. troop levels was none other than Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who oversees the training of Iraqi security forces.
At a House Armed Services Committee hearing this February, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) told Donald Rumsfeld of a recent conversation she had with Gen. Petraeus, during which she asked whether additional troops would have prevented many of the failures of Iraq’s security forces. Petraeus responded, “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it, Ms. Sanchez?â€
And contrary to DiRita’s claim that U.S. commanders and the Pentagon were all on the same page regarding force levels, Rumsfeld even acknowledged the disagreement:
RUMSFELD: … General Petreaus is in charge of the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces. And General Casey and General Abizaid are the ones who advice us as to what the force levels ought to be in the country.
And it appears that General Petreaus doesn’t agree with them and that’s fine. I’m sure other people don’t agree with General Casey or General Abizaid.
DiRita finishes off his letter with an attack on Larry Korb’s patriotism, claiming “Korb’s warnings about a ‘broken Army’ are just wrong and disrespectful of an institution that is the best ever fielded.” Considering Larry Korb spent a good portion of his career addressing this very issue — as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower under President Reagan — we’ll dismiss DiRita’s claim for what it is: a poor attempt to cover up for policies that have weakened our nation’s defenses.
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
32 Responses to “DiRita’s Deceitful Reponse to American Progress”
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Think ProgressContact Us
Donate
who’s worse: DiRita or McClellan? It’s a tough call…
August 16th, 2005 at 1:45 pmThis is the true failure of the administration, going in cheap hoping for a velvet revolution. Why so cheap? Were they actually hoping to provoke Iran or Syria into confrontation then have the reserves for another ground war? Regardlees of why, these chickenhawks have gutted our very security by going cheap.
August 16th, 2005 at 1:48 pmHas DiRita ever heard the name Shinseki?
August 16th, 2005 at 2:01 pmThat’s right DiRita. Also notice how nobody with loved ones in the clandistine service is criticizing Bush at all.
August 16th, 2005 at 2:04 pmHas DiRita been to Iraq?
August 16th, 2005 at 2:10 pmDiRita’s statement is like saying:
“Jon Stewart and Rick Santorum have all consistently said — and believed — that ice cream is yummy but too much is bad for you”
August 16th, 2005 at 2:19 pmExamples of KIA families supporting the war and the President are more numerous than the Cindy Sheehans of the world. Those most closely involved in the war on terror support the war in Iraq by a wide margin, despite their personal losses.
August 16th, 2005 at 2:23 pmDAILY GRILL
Gen. Casey : “fairly substantial” withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq was possible next year in the spring or summer
VS
Man-monkey Bush: “I think they were rumors. I think they were speculation. . . . I suspect what you were hearing was speculation. . . . I think it’s kind of what we call speculation.”
August 16th, 2005 at 2:26 pm#7 - supporting evidence. Please.
If none, I suggest that you are covering a tenuous position.
August 16th, 2005 at 2:26 pmMost closely involved? Like Richard Clark? Sources BSR?
August 16th, 2005 at 2:27 pmThis is the same Larry DiRita who vehemently denied any Korans were flushed and spit on by the military.
Consider the source.
August 16th, 2005 at 2:30 pmAnecdotal reports from small-unit commanders about the need for more forces, like in your referenced blog, has been brought up before. Rummy just says that they don’t see the big picture and on a macro scale the generals on the ground and advising him don’t want more troops.
DiRita is right: There is no known difference between civilian leaders and military commanders (Petraeus is not a commander) regarding force levels in Iraq. Now, you may argue that these commanders are not being honest and forthright because they have been intimidated by their civilian leaders, but that’s a different problem. See: http://www.miami.com/ mld/ miamiherald/ news/ opinion/ 12199306.htm/
August 16th, 2005 at 2:32 pmBSR, does most closely involved mean those making $ off of the war on terror in Iraq? At least you used the term “involved” rather than “informed”.
August 16th, 2005 at 2:35 pmDon - there is a consistent pattern of commanders indicating possible troop drawdowns, and the President indicating that it’s just speculation, we’ll stay indefinitely. The president just pulled this again on Gen. Casey’s remarks…
August 16th, 2005 at 3:01 pm#7 - WRONG
August 16th, 2005 at 3:36 pmWe all know that what Bushie says is a lie. He has absolutely no credibility.
He could care less what the commanders say, they are as disposable as the troops.
votetoimpeach.org
August 16th, 2005 at 3:37 pmAnyone know where the story is about the chickenhawk running over the crosses in Crawford?
I love to read stories about chickenhawks and their inability to control themselves. That is, as long as jail time is the outcome.
August 16th, 2005 at 3:40 pmSusan check out the Raw Story. They will link you there. It’s really disgusting. Also, check out the Huffington Post online. She has some good links too.
August 16th, 2005 at 3:45 pm#14, Darth,
Apples and oranges. Saying there aren’t enough troops now is different than suggesting a drawdown (and Casey put impossible conditions on it). So I don’t get the point. If you can reduce the number of troops, you must have too many, not too few.
Rummy has cosistently said that the US won’t win this war, the Iraqis have to do it, and then we can leave.
August 16th, 2005 at 3:56 pmDiRita is another shill.
August 16th, 2005 at 4:29 pmDid anyone hear that Gen. Casey who two weeks ago said troops would be drawn down in early 2006, was personally rebuked by Bush? These guys are not all on the same page, they contradict each other every week. Rummy’s senility is showing.
Bush’s questionable psychological status is being discussed in private quarters. He is reported to take anti-depressants, his responses to grief-stricken parents varies from cold heartlessness to tears. Tears for them, or tears because he knows he has screwed up so bad? Aides are reported to inform one another of the “weather” at the WH each morning, depending on the mental state of Bush. Bush’s mood seems to be manic-depressive, and out of touch with reality.
This entire administration is suffering from mental disorder and we are all suffering from their actions.
Nico:
You let De Rita get of too easily.
You quote him saying “Korb’s warnings about a ‘broken Army’ are just wrong and disrespectful of an institution that is the best ever fielded.” This line needs further comment.
Korb does not warn of a “broken army,” he warns of “breaking up the all-volunteer army.” This is an issue of manpower and is not a black versus white argument of “broken army” versus “best ever fielded” that De Rita wants to make.
It is also not an issue of being “disrespectful of an institution,” the issue is the bad judgement and mismanagement of the civilian leadership that currently runs the institution.
Once again, the civilian leadership is hiding behind the courage and skill of the fighting man and woman.
And, please don’t let pass another administration misrepresentation of the facts: “Korb evidently has paid no attention to the ongoing growth and restructuring of the U.S. Army, which is providing for a larger pool of deployable soldiers and units.” Active duty strength of the US Army on the eve of the Iraq invasion was 489,760 personel, as of 6/30/05 active personel was 489,971 (with thousands of them unable to discharge due to the Army’s stop-loss policy). Current manpower is nearly 12,500 soldiers short of the end strength force level set by Congress for 2005. What “ongoing growth” is he talking about? There is none.
August 16th, 2005 at 4:47 pmMarie, Bushie has been on anti-depressents for a while. I read about his medical history during the campaign.
Ant-depressents allow people to easily “let things go”. The patient is unable to feel sorrow. They are unable to dwell on things. They have short term memory loss. They feel they can conquer the world.
Yes, for sure Bushie is on anti-depressants. Too bad, I’d rather have him be suicidal.
August 16th, 2005 at 5:50 pmCONCERNS THAT BUSH IS “LOSING IT”
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/ artman/ publish/ article_7218.shtml
“Buy beleaguered, overworked White House aides enough drinks and they tell a sordid tale of an administration under siege, beset by bitter staff infighting and led by a man whose mood swings suggest paranoia bordering on schizophrenia. They describe a President whose public persona masks an angry, obscenity-spouting man who berates staff, unleashes tirades against those who disagree with him and ends meetings in the Oval Office with ‘Get out of here!’
In fact, George W. Bush’s mood swings have become so drastic that White House emails often contain ‘weather reports’ to warn of the President’s demeanor. ‘Calm seas’ means Bush is calm while ‘tornado alert’ is a warning that he is pissed at the world. Decreasing job approval ratings and increased criticism within his own party drives the President’s paranoia even higher. Bush, in a meeting with senior advisors, called Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist a ‘god-damned traitor’ for opposing him on stem-cell research. ‘There’s real concern in the West Wing that the President is losing it,’ a high-level aide told me recently.
‘I was really very unsettled by him and I started watching everything he did and reading what he wrote and watching him on videotape. I felt he was disturbed,’ (psychiatrist) Dr. Justin Frank said. ‘He fits the profile of a former drinker whose alcoholism has been arrested but not treated.’ Dr. Frank’s conclusions have been praised by other prominent psychiatrists, including Dr. James Grotstein, Professor at UCLA Medical Center, and Dr. Irvin Yalom, MD, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University Medical School.”
August 16th, 2005 at 8:08 pm#22 Susan,
August 17th, 2005 at 12:23 amSuicidal? Hmmm, that might be a good thing, except that would leave us with Cheney, the real Darth Vader.
I really want impeachment, removal from office and a day or two in the stocks before being hauled off, iving the populace an opportunity to throw rotten eggs and romatoes at them.
I need info on travel to DC 9/24 — bus? fly? lodging? anyone know?
Yes, Cheney is Darth Vader. That makes Bush Jar Jar Binks. And the NeoCons would be Battle Droids.
We would then be the Jedi who end up destroying the Galactic Empire in the end.
August 17th, 2005 at 1:27 amI thought Cheney was Darth Sidious, and Bush is Anakin “With me or my enemy” Skywalker. Or maybe Rove is secretly Darth Sidious.
In any case, Bush killed over 1,800 younglings.
August 17th, 2005 at 11:33 am#24, FBA wants you to visit Black Five — here’s their current top ten wartime website postings:
************
Very Good News
Congratulations to Mrs. Instapundit on her graduation
************
Gunner Palace Blogging
My friend, Mike Tucker, is blogging again at the site for his documentary, Gunner Palace. His latest post is Television Goes to War:
**************
Tuesday’s Gone
It’s Wednesday morning. I’m on the way to work really early. I’ve been working on a huge project and I’ve got so many things going on right now I need the time alone in the office to focus.
*************
Connections - The Warrior Family
I’ve often said/written that there is not six degrees of separation between military people, but two.
*************
Trade Center Towers’ Steel Forged Into The USS NEW YORK
Many people have sent this story from the Stars&Stripes. The steel from the twin towers is now melded into a new ship for the Navy:
*************
GI Gives Matt Lauer the Answer that He didn’t want to hear
Dave Terron sent the link to this post at NewsBusters:
*************
National Airborne Day Part V - Airborne Media Salute
I’ve gotten a few request to repost this awesome photo:
(It’s a GI flipping the bird)
**************
National Airborne Day Part IV - the Original Blackfive Photo
For a year or more, this photo was in the upper right corner of the blog. If it doesn’t get your adrenaline going, you’re either dead or a leg-for-life
*************
National Airborne Day PArt III - Airborne Bloggers
Please visit these Airborne Qualified bloggers:
*************
BIG YAWN, FBA, JUST LIKE YOUR POSTING
August 17th, 2005 at 8:35 pmWhat wrong Don, you only like vets who bitch and moan?
“General Butler was descendant of two old and distinguished families of Quakers. His father was Thomas S. Butler, for over thirty years a Representative in Congress from the Delaware-Chester County district of Pennsylvania, and a longtime chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee. ”
First citation: “He exhibited courage and skill in leading his men through the action of the 22d and in the final occupation of the city.”
Second: “Throughout this perilous action, Maj. Butler was conspicuous for his bravery and forceful leadership.”
So I’m sure his father didn’t help him get his 2 medals of honor, no way. Most who receive that medal are dead when they get it, but that’s not why you like him, it’s because he was a pacifist at the end of his life. Well, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith’s daddy didn’t get him his. Blackfive is boring? Why because he is pro Bush, Pro war on terror and links to milblogs in Iraq, you wouldn’t want the sheep to hear what the troops have to say without the MSM capitulation filter.
Compare your “Quaker” with high connections to a random pick, this first one I came to: Captain Harl Pease Jr.
UNITED STATES ARMY
*PEASE, HARL, JR. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army Air Corps, Heavy Bombardment Squadron. Place and date: Near Rabaul, New Britain, 6-7 August 1942. Entered service at: Plymouth, N.H. Birth: Plymouth, N.H. G.O. No.: 59, 4 November 1942. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy on 6-7 August 1942. When 1 engine of the bombardment airplane of which he was pilot failed during a bombing mission over New Guinea, Capt. Pease was forced to return to a base in Australia. Knowing that all available airplanes of his group were to participate the next day in an attack on an enemy-held airdrome near Rabaul, New Britain, although he was not scheduled to take part in this mission, Capt. Pease selected the most serviceable airplane at this base and prepared it for combat, knowing that it had been found and declared unserviceable for combat missions. With the members of his combat crew, who volunteered to accompany him, he rejoined his squadron at Port Moresby, New Guinea, at 1 a.m. on 7 August, after having flown almost continuously since early the preceding morning. With only 3 hours’ rest, he took off with his squadron for the attack. Throughout the long flight to Rabaul, New Britain, he managed by skillful flying of his unserviceable airplane to maintain his position in the group. When the formation was intercepted by about 30 enemy fighter airplanes before reaching the target, Capt. Pease, on the wing which bore the brunt of the hostile attack, by gallant action and the accurate shooting by his crew, succeeded in destroying several Zeros before dropping his bombs on the hostile base as planned, this in spite of continuous enemy attacks. The fight with the enemy pursuit lasted 25 minutes until the group dived into cloud cover. After leaving the target, Capt. Pease’s aircraft fell behind the balance of the group due to unknown difficulties as a result of the combat, and was unable to reach this cover before the enemy pursuit succeeded in igniting 1 of his bomb bay tanks. He was seen to drop the flaming tank. It is believed that Capt. Pease’s airplane and crew were subsequently shot down in flames, as they did not return to their base. In voluntarily performing this mission Capt. Pease contributed materially to the success of the group, and displayed high devotion to duty, valor, and complete contempt for personal danger. His undaunted bravery has been a great inspiration to the officers and men of his unit.
Yes sounds like your hero really deserved it. Not. But he was your hero because he was a pacifist, not his medals, that’s what you use to try to make him legit.
August 18th, 2005 at 1:08 am#29, FBA,
BlackFive is boring because he’s boring (seee #28 above). Generally the millblogs like to glorify military life like it’s some grand crusade for high principals, when, as Smedley Butler pointed out so eloquently:
“War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses. . .
“It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
“I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.”
Smedley Butler is a popular and respected Marine Corps officer. He is the only double recipient of the Medal of Honor to have both a Marine Corps base and a veteran’s peace group named after him. And now with his own web site http://www.warisaracket.org Ol’ Smed kicks butt precisely because his anti-imperialism message is consistently gaining new currency as a rseult of stupid presidential imperialism in exotic places like Vietnam and Iraq.
August 18th, 2005 at 4:29 pmI bet he’s the only medal of honor winner who had his daddy give him his medal as well. You people make me sick, the only heros you have are old men and grieving mothers who are not of sound mind.
August 18th, 2005 at 8:07 pmTrade Center Towers’ Steel Forged Into The USS NEW YORK
Many people have sent this story from the Stars&Stripes. The steel from the twin towers is now melded into a new ship for the Navy:
thats real boring, if you are unAmerican. Not that you really care about 9/11 or vets, unless they bitch and moan like I said. Sounds like he turned out to be a commie, and since he died so after those remarks, his old brain was not was it once was I’m sure.
Don the further proof you and your turncoat hero are full of shit is the fact that we turn empires into democracies, not that you even know the difference, are you dreaming of the Marxist workers paradise again?
August 18th, 2005 at 8:11 pmFBA, actually, as usual, you have it backasswards. George w. Bush, appointed president by his daddies’ buddies on the Supreme Court, has managed to turn our democracy into an empire. Domestically, with the Patriot Act and the detention of American citizens without trial, and internationally, with the illegal and dowright stupid invasion of a country that didn’t even threaten us. The latter has caused us to spend uncountable lives and borrowed treasure, as well as cost us good will in all countries, particularly arab ones, because of King George’s scorched earth and torture policies.
Now, since you’re shedding crocodile tears over the twin towers, you should know that respected scientists have determined that the steel in the towers tested up to its certified standard, and it should have easily withstood the jet fuel fires without buckling. The steel components were certified to ASTM E119, which means they could be exposed to temperatures of 2000 degrees fahrenheit for several hours. Even un-fireproofed steel will not melt until reaching temperatures of 3000 degrees. Analysis of perimeter panels indicate temperatures of no more the 250 degrees fahrenheit. The twin towers collapsed suddenly, as did Building No. 7, which hadn’t even been hit, in contravention to any logical engineering explanation, other than demolition. The buildings’ residue then was hastened off the scene before any meaningful studies could be conducted, and the government’s 9/11 report, long delayed and resisted by the emporer and conducted by the emporer’s buddies, was inconclusive. And how were those highjacked planes with known terrorists at the controls able to GET to the twin towers? The emporer hasn’t answered that one yet.
Actually, my favorite BlackFive postings are: the “Airborne media salute” (here’s to ya, FBA) and “Tueday’s gone and I’m on my way to work.” That’s because my old brain isn’t what it once was, so I get off on childish milblogs. You too.
August 19th, 2005 at 12:33 am