Gen. John Batiste, who led the 1st Infantry Division
By on Apr 14th, 2006 at 11:45 am
Gen. John Batiste, who led the 1st Infantry Division
in Iraq, appeared on all three network talk shows this morning “calling for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation.”
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Jeesh, who knew the military was full of cut and run cowards? Can’t these Generals be brave military commanders like Bill Kristol who says that we should “capture and kill” all of the terrorists?
Maybe this General should meet with Field-Marshall Laura Ingraham who can instill the fear of God and return him to being a warrior for Christ.
Looks like there is room to promote Rush Limbaugh, Hught Hewitt and Sean Hannity into the upper ranks of the US military.
-GSD
April 14th, 2006 at 11:54 amThis administration’s pattern often seems to be for people to hand in their resignation, the President does not accept it, and then the person gets a medal.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:01 pmIndeed. And time to slap a couple of stars on Commandant Hinderaker as well, so that he and F-M Laura can implement the clever Pajamas Media military planning wing’s strategy to continue “fighting them over there,” so we don’t have to come up with coherent foreign policy over here. Hail to the Chief!
April 14th, 2006 at 12:05 pmFor The Holiday…
An Easter Story Diary At Kos
April 14th, 2006 at 12:08 pmAs I said earlier, TP needs to do a story on Rumsfields promotion policies – he personally chooses who will be a 4 star general and interferes with the 2 and 3 star promotion process. He is basically packing the Pentagon with people who are too afraid to speak out to their boss, let alone the people’s representatives.
Prior to Rumsfield, while there was a significant political element to the process, generals were chosen and recommended by generals. That isn’t the case anymore.
He will, in effect, leave us with a Pentagon stuffed with 4 star Generals who owe their job to silence. We need generals that are willing to give real opinions about military strategy . It appears that, at present, they realize that saying anything will have no effect as we have a supreme commander who is all knowing.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:08 pmTime for Rumsfeld to move into the private sector and make even more money.
You’re going to become poorer. The rich are going to become richer.
“The rich get richer, the poor get hell”
‘Republican’ values, you know.
Prepare to watch your life fall apart.
Forget about those poor bastards in Warshington, they’re a teat on a boar.
You don’t have to lift a finger, they’ll do it to themselves. It will be sooner than later too.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:10 pmRevolt of the generals…
Powerline and friends may dismiss them as disgruntled “Clinton generals,” but the military men who are speaking out and calling for Donald Rumsfeld to be replaced as Pentagon chief have a serious case to make……
April 14th, 2006 at 12:12 pmBatiste and the other Generals are trying to do their part as patriotic citizens. Their dissent is what the freedoms protected in our Constitution and Bill of Rights is all about. These guys are far from the gutless wonders that are heading this administration. These are soldiers who have been there and know the truth.
I am grateful for their patriotism and their efforts to change things. Unfortunately, there are misguided people who believe any criticism of the administration is unpatriotic. I would ask them to study history. Roosevelt had plenty of critics during World War II and they were still patriots. Time for the political cronies to go, along with the Commander in Chief who is not only responsible for the failures in Iraq, but also guilty of leaking secrets and selling our country to the highest bidder.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:13 pm#8,#7
They are patriotic generals but they should have spoken when they were ACTIVE DUTY. It isn’t hard to get called before Congress and get a rep/senator to ask you the right question. If you have serious problems with Rumsfield the time to do it is not when you have realized you won’t get promoted (which appears to be the 2 stars reason to retire) but when you can make more of an impact.
Generals in uniform are much harder to attack than generals without one. So would resigning in front of a congressional panel.
As it is, all 4 stars are allowed political room with regard to Congress. They can voice opinions contrary to Rumsfield (although it will still get you essentially sacked).
It’s much harder to attack officers as political hacks while they occupy an enforced nonpolitical world.
But yes, I am glad they are coming out.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:19 pmRumsfeld is only the “fall guy.” Our “Mission Accomplished” Liar and Chief is the real problem for the miliatry and Americans. Bush loves to play fighter pilot but as with everything in his life, it’s all about looks. This failure of a man is responsible for what will be America’s most costly military failure ever. It’s time to hold him responsible and demand he leave office!
April 14th, 2006 at 12:22 pm10 – Agreed, but Rummie would be a good ‘ice breaker’.
–
April 14th, 2006 at 12:34 pmhttp://griperblade.blogspot.com – grumblings from the heartland
James,
You keep posting statements like this and I keep trying to inform you that nobody in the military can speak out against their superiors without being charged with insubordination.
The generals cannot speak out while they still in the military.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:43 pm#9 isn’t it in the code of military justice that you cannot make negative comments about the Sect of def, the vp or the pres. (there may be others like your commander but I cannot remember). I recall that you could be court-martialed (spelling?) for this.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:46 pmToo late.
Osama and his pals have disappeared into the Pakistani hinterlands; there is no clear mission for our military; Iran is once again thumbing their noses at us; mistakes and lies have squandered world opinion; and the military infastructure has been replaced and so riddled by contractors like Halliburton that the soldiers can’t even cook their own meals or order their own supplies. Never mind the generals, just look at what happens to the rank and file in the Pentagon who dares to blow a whistle on Rummy’s poor planning or lack of oversight.
No, the military leadership is so packed with Rummy’s yes-men now, it will be decades before it fully recovers.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
Game over.
Its too damned late.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:55 pmJoe Sixpack,
For a redneck republican, you sure sounded like a prog in that last post.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:59 pm#16 – I really don’t think he’s a republican. I have read quite a few of his posts in the last week and he does not sound evil to me.
Do you ever feel like you were in a really bad horror movie? Cause all of this really cannot be happening the the US…this must be a nightmare. I just wish I would wake up!
April 14th, 2006 at 1:02 pmJules,
Joe is not a republican. I just get a kick out of his “correct me if I’m wrong” posts.
Yes, I do feel like this is a horror movie. More to the point, a comic book horror movie. Specifically Blade.
The Vampires (Neo-Cons) all control the government from their hide outs, while they send out their human drones (I-RIGHT-I, wwallace, mighty aphrodite) to do their dirty work. The drones do there bidding in hopes of getting “turned”, which will never happen, because they are not pure (blue) bloods.
Scary how close this is to reality, ain’t it?
April 14th, 2006 at 1:09 pmSpudge – you have got the grestest imagination. I guess that is why you are progressive. Or the other way around….whatever.
Did you see V for Vendetta? OMG – How real….if this does not stop that is what our world will be.
April 14th, 2006 at 1:14 pmJules,
I have not seen V for Vendetta yet. I have heard great things about it. But then I don’t ever go to the movies anymore, Unless I am going to see a real blockbuster of a movie, Like Fantastic Four or the up coming X-Men.
I have a 52″ HDTV with 6.1 surrond. The movies do not have as good of a picture or as good of sound as I have at home, so my family waits for the DVD to come out. Plus we can pause it if we need to pee. : )
April 14th, 2006 at 1:20 pmYeah, Spudge, even a rightwing, redneck dipshit like me can get upset when it comes to pissing away the lives of our young warriors because no one in this administation can admit to or correct a mistake. Bush’s is loyalty to an inept asshole is more important than more than three thousand lives and 5X that many injured and maimed.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if I was a true, rightwing Republican dipshit, I wouldn’t admit all that either—–as long as there is still some American blood left to drain down into the Iraqi sands and form the foundations of all that “freedom” and “democracy” Bush and Rummy used to talk about.
Its a good thing I ain’t a prog, Spudge, or I’d really give you an ear full.
April 14th, 2006 at 1:23 pmThese generals (Batiste, Zinni, et al.) who are attacking Rumsfeld and the war have been doing so primarily on the grounds of policy and political disagreements that were resolved through the chain of command a long time ago. None of them has revealed a single new criticism that hasn’t already been chewed to death. To that extent, their pompous pronouncements are political, not military, in nature, and they should be disregarded as such. Of course, they are now the Left’s favorite military darlings, not because they are right, but because their comments fit the Left’s template of scandal and incompetence.
I don’t know enough about General Batiste to know whether he is jealsous or has some ulterior motive, but I do know this: (1) every general in the chain of command, and every field commander, was involved in the planning of pre-war and post-war operations in Iraq; (2) there is a chain of command for everything in the military, including disagreement – and it does not involve spouting off to the press; (3) once policy decisions have been made through the chain of command it is a soldir’s duty to support the mission at all costs – even if that requires some biting of one’s tongue; and (4) any soldier of any rank who publicly attacks the mission or its planners has violated the chain of command and betrayed the frontline soldiers who are still in harm’s way.
It is interesting that this thread is posted on Good Friday, a day when we remember the greatest sacrifice in history. Those were dark days, too – but they were merely a prelude to the greatest miracle in history.
Iraq is a far more worldly matter, but it also involves the prospect of an amazing transformation, which already is unfolding before us. Shame on Batiste. Shame on Zinni. Shame on all those who publicly attack the cause for which so many have sacrificed and died.
April 14th, 2006 at 1:36 pmAhhh ah a ha ah ha ha ha ha ha ha
No there isn’t. You just proved that you have never served.
Yes, this is called the “shut the fvck up and do what we say” clause. Every service member knows this one.
The first part of this one directly contradicts the (2) you have. The second part of it is a bullshit strawman.
Ahhhhh ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah. Prove it.
Shame on you for not serving. Your country needs you to help with the “amazing transformation”
April 14th, 2006 at 1:51 pmSpudge,
Blue State Red shows why Crackers should never home school their own. If ignorance were dynamite they’d have enough to single handedly launch a big bang!
April 14th, 2006 at 2:15 pm“Blue State Red” wrote: “Shame on Batiste. Shame on Zinni. Shame on all those who publicly attack the cause for which so many have sacrificed and died.”
You’re like the person who continues to bang his head against the wall and curse the wall for not falling down.
Shame on those who sent our soldiers to die for oil & profits. If the war were about murderers and dictatorial regimes, why haven’t we attacked Sudan? They’ve murdered over 500,000 of their own citizens! No oil, no reason for a war.
The rational for war was a lie (No WMD’s, no capability for WMD’s, and no Osama bin Laden) so the only people who should feel shame are those un-patriotic people who yammer away repeating talking points without engaging their own brains long enough to realize how badly Pres. Bush and the GOP is screwing America, our fiscal foundation, our military, and our Constitution.
April 14th, 2006 at 2:44 pmBy the way, it’s a complete lie saying: “any soldier of any rank who publicly attacks the mission or its planners has violated the chain of command and betrayed the frontline soldiers who are still in harm’s way”
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/militarylaw1/a/obeyingorders_2.htm
Obeying an illegal order is more wrong than disobeying it.
Questioning the “leaders” who made the wrong decision on more than one occasion is the pinnacle of patriotism. NOT questioning stupid leaders is perpetuating stupidity. That’s why I left the Army. Too many stupid peple continuing to be stupid and not enough people standing up to them.
April 14th, 2006 at 2:50 pmBSR’s comments are some of the most unAmerican I have ever heard.
It is truly sickening to see these trolls try to smear anyone at all, no matter how much service they have given to our country, no matter how many lives of troops they have had to carry, no matter how distinguished they are, no matter how much of their family’s time they have had to give up, no matter how many wives and children have had to sacrifice precious moments (ball games, first tooths being lost, birthdays, funerals, weddings, toddlers first steps, first words, etc…), no matter who at all.
What kind of filth takes up the defense of the criminal instead of the righteous? Where does this strange obsession with Bush come from? Why indeed would these people do this? Talk about hating the troops! Talk about not supporting the troops?
I think BSR should ask these generals’ soldiers what THEY thought of him. How could someone be so pompous that they actually think they know what these soldiers think and how could they have the gall to disrespect any of these generals who fight for them.
We will not let you trolls forget where your loyalties lie!! And it is NOT with those that fight because you won’t.
I dare you to keep posting your holy thoughts. I dare you NeD, IRI, BSR, Lyle, Aphro, wwallace, etc. I dare you all to come out in public and relate these thoughts to your friends, coworkers and family. I want to see you stop hiding behind hate and solitary internet correspondence and come forward and let America HEAR what you have to say. I dare you. And please, report back the responses you get.
Oh Sweet November!
April 14th, 2006 at 2:55 pm#21-
I don’t know where to begin with this. You clearly have no idea of what you speak. If however you are interested in getting that experience, I would be glad to help you enlist. Assuming of course you are old enough.
An officer’s most basic duty is to the troops under him, and his oath is to the Constitution, not the Administration. These officers- generals- not some reservist lieutenant fresh outta ROTC- are pointing out that there is something very, very wrong with the chain of command. Namely, that the civilian leadership atop the military hierarcy (which is there for a good reason, dont get me wrong) is *not* listening to the advise of the profesionals under them. They are making policy decisions, yes, and then deciding how to implement those policies.
The most recent decision to have convoys under attack stop and fight it out instead of barrelling through is clear indication of this. Convoys that stop at an ambush are asking to get slaughtered. The leadership in this administration knows nothing about war, and its costing people their lives.
Further, while they may have been ‘Clinton’ generals, they were probably Bush Colonels and Reagon Captains and Majors. The men and women who wear our nation’s uniform are not political hacks. They are professionals and deserve respect as such- no matter how disagreable you find their professional opinions. When are you hackjobs gonna realize that not all opinions are created equally? The opinion of a 30 something never-been-outside-the-us right-wing political blogger is not the same value as a professional general officer whos commanded an entire division. Thats just the way it is.
April 14th, 2006 at 3:22 pmBetter late than never — although I believe the military code strictly prohibits speaking out against superiors while still active. This surely applies to criticizing the civilian leadership as well.
April 14th, 2006 at 4:38 pmIt’s Bush who should be taking action, but we’re not holding our breath are we? Even if he did fire Rumsfeld, would the situation change in any meaningful way?
As a former military officer I know for a fact that we are told that criticizing a superior is not a good move and political statements are forbidden in uniform, the quote goes something like this, if you can not agree with a policy and feel that you must criticize it, resign your commission and then as a civilian you are free to criticize. Retiring is a form of resigning because retiring makes you a civilian just the same…..
April 14th, 2006 at 6:25 pmI am tired of you demioncrats calling for the removal of Rumsfeld. As a Marine and an Arab, I know that the military leaders have been the problem with dealing with arabs. The generals live on another plant and believe that they are the only one that can be right all the time. The military leaders do not understand how to deal with Arabs and many cultures. The problem is not Donald Rumsfeld, but the brass that lead the military. The average enlisted man has to deal with their arrogance and their errors that happen all the time. They refused to use Arabs as translators and Arabs to help to understand the Arab people. They refused to promote any Arab in the military and do much more. Next time, you left wing moron attack the Rumsfeld or GWB for the errors in Iraq just stop. You are wrong and the real error belongs to the brass that can not think beyound their own self-centered and narrow minded view. Do not get me wrong, some officers were good, but many officers do not really deserve an enlisted man’s loyality. The error belongs to the arrogant officers asking for the removal of Rumsfeld because he did not play into their ego. Give me a break from you act of ignorance.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:24 amUSMC disabled vet