Rumsfeld blames the generals for poor pre-war planning.
Rumsfeld blames the generals for poor pre-war planning.
In February 2003, Gen. Eric Shinseki famously predicted that “several hundred thousand” troops would be needed for post-war hostilities in Iraq. According to documents recently released by the Pentagon in response to The New York Times’s expose on its propaganda program, however, Donald Rumsfeld claimed in a 2006 briefing that the reason why he did not support a larger invasion force was because commanders did not request it:
RUMSFELD: Now, it turns out he [Shinkseki] was right. The commanders–you guys ended up wanting roughly the same as you had for the major combat operation, and that’s what we have. There is no damned guidebook that says what the number ought to be. We were queued up to go up to what, 400-plus thousand.
Q: Yes, they were already in queue.
RUMSFELD: They were in the queue. We would have gone right on if they’d wanted them, but they didn’t, so life goes on.
In reality, Rumsfeld fought back when generals like Shinseki requested more troops. He said in 2003 that Shinseki was “far from the mark.” As McClatchy reported in 2004, “Central Command originally proposed a force of 380,000 to attack and occupy Iraq. Rumsfeld’s opening bid was about 40,000. … By September 2003, Rumsfeld and his aides thought, there would be very few American troops left in Iraq.”
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RUMSFELD: They were in the queue. We would have gone right on if they’d wanted them, but they didn’t, so life goes on.
– - Well, for some.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:57 pmLife goes on…?
Rumsfeld, you lying b*stard.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:57 pmRumsfeld blames the generals for poor pre-war planning.
BwaaaaaaaHaaaaaaaHaaaaaaa!
May 8th, 2008 at 7:59 pmWell of course it’s the generals’ fault! They’re the designated scapegoats for this situation. That’s their role. They knew that when they signed up.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:59 pmBy September 2003, Rumsfeld and his aides thought, there would be very few American troops left in Iraq.
BwaaaaaaaaaHaaaaaaaHaaaaaaa (wiping tears of laughter)
They built those permanent bases because they were planning to leave???
BwaaaaaHaaaaaHaaaaa
These neocons are one sad joke.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:03 pmWhat a schmuck.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:03 pmRumsfeld and the other Neo-conservatives had more than 20 years to plan this and this is what they give us. These neocon’s have taken over this country. And their grand plan for the American takeover of the world is not working. We look like $hit to every country in the world, we are going broke, and they are now planning yet another bombing campaign in Iran which will make gas $20 bucks a gallon – if it’s available at all.
WTG, neocons! WTG, Rumsfeld. WTG, Bush!
Imagine if George W. Bush had a say in our government until the day he died. Well he does. One of his famous executive orders has given him the right to control what we know about his administration not just until he dies but forever!
Read Orders and Acts and Lies. Oh my!
When are these cowards who are supposed to represent us, you know, We The People, going to do something for this country?
May 8th, 2008 at 8:05 pmLife will not go on for 4073 of our troops — and countless thousands of others — and Rumsfeld says LIFE GOES ON!?
Jesus wept.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:05 pmhe did not support a larger invasion force was because commanders did not request it:
BwaaaaaHaaaaaHaaaaa
The SoD doesn’t run the show! The generals do!!! Whooooeeee. What a way to run an invasion and occupation.
BwaaaaHaaaaHaaaa
May 8th, 2008 at 8:06 pmGen Shinseki did NOT just pull his number out of thin Air. His estimate was based on a Carefull , Detailed study of the situation. Sec. Rumsfeld simply threw this data overboard, prefering his delusion that the troops would be “out of there” by Sept. 2003, and the problems could simply be handed off to the “Iraqi’s”.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:09 pmWhen NO IRaqi’s appeared, and the insurgency began….Tommy Franks and his top generals Just Left….and Gen. Sanchez…recently promoted and with little command experience… was left to control the Whirlwind.
One of the great mysteries of life is that no one in this administration, current or former, has had their earthly days snuffed out.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:10 pmBadmoodman Says:
One of the great mysteries of life is that no one in this administration, current or former, has had their earthly days snuffed out.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
No real mystery here, really. Good guys don’t kill. Bad guys do. And they only kill enemies. When all the bad guys are on your team you don’t kill them.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:13 pmWasn’t the OSP directly under Rumsfeld? Has Rumsfeld forgotten about the OSP?
I didn’t.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:34 pmRumsfeld should be in proson for committing WAR CRIMES!
you guys hear about Ron Paul getting all his supporters to drink poison kool aid at his last rally?
Ron Paulogists
May 8th, 2008 at 8:46 pmPrison*
May 8th, 2008 at 8:47 pmSo rummy is saying the Generals BETRAYED US! Shame on him. Where is the outrage over this slight of our honorable men in uniform? Where is the Congressional outcry over this slander?
May 8th, 2008 at 8:48 pmWow, get a load of MsJoanne’s post at the link in her comment.
If we’re gonna restore any sense of justice and decency in this country, we have to thoroughly investigate all these crimes, lying and treachery.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:57 pmIt should be clear to everyone by now that not one of these members of the Bush crime family is worth his salt. They are cheap, whining, cowards who will not accept responsibility, who pass the buck, who carelessly throw others “under the bus” and who should be grateful that they are still free to roam the streets — at least for now.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:01 pmEventually, they will run out of generals willing to be “thrown under the bus” like a “good soldier”. One can only hope there are enough honorable warriors, as opposed to political officers, left to thwart whatever mad schemes the Bush administration may dream up. Even George’s crusades can be limited if enough generals tell him no.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:15 pmThere are unknown knowns, unknowable unknowns, and blab, blah, bleck and then there are the three worthless lying traitorous morons: Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush… Three known worthless lying traitorous morons…
May 8th, 2008 at 9:16 pmBut the underlying reason to send those troops was so flawed that, hopefully, most Americans now know the whole operation was justified by lies. Unless too many people are still watching Fox and listening to Rushbowl. That’s a big unless, since it would appear that 71% reject Bush. Why would that be? People are finally making up their own minds? Oh, I hope so.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:17 pmGlenzilla nails the neocons today. They lie. For the neocon the past simply does not exist. They make up their own reality. Men like Rumsfeld, Ledeen, Pearl, Cheney believe they have the power to shape reality. Fortunately for us in 100 years now one will care.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:19 pmSeriously, is there a single, valid reason in the world why this man should be given even the least amount of credibility in the things he says? When has he ever uttered a comment for the record in public designed to illuminate the truth?
May 8th, 2008 at 9:23 pmFiring General Shinseki was a strong message to the rest to sit down and shut up.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:34 pmA spit over a blazing fire awaits Rummy in Hell any day now. Bush for all of his executive orders cannot prevent the truth from coming out. The next prez can wipe away any and all of his edicts with the stroke of a pen. Have faith people, the Constitution has been abused as never before the past seven years but it takes more than a chronic drunk and a pack of venal gangsters to destroy this country.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:36 pmRumsfeld was an arrogant ass–he abused many of those who came to his office. He was rumored to throw briefers out if they so much as stumbled and said, “Uh, . . .” Famous for working at his standing desk and belittling those who couldn’t do likewise. Never known for taking advice or listening to opinions he didn’t already have. A sure formula for disaster!
May 8th, 2008 at 9:43 pmI see. It’s Shinseki’s fault that Rumsfeld looks bad, because if Shinseki hadn’t been right, they could have claimed that “nobody knew”. Way to go, Uncle Rummy.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:56 pmRumsfeld will go down as one of the biggest scumbags in U.S. history.
Who can forget all those great quotes;
“the army you have, not the army you wish you had”
“stuff happens”
” 6 days, 6 weeks….I doubt 6 months”
What a pompous ass.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:59 pmTypical American corporate bulls*** artist……if it goes well he takes the credit for it….
if it goes wrong, he takes none of the blame
Doc Rock Says:
Rumsfeld was an arrogant ass–he abused many of those who came to his office. He was rumored to throw briefers out if they so much as stumbled and said, “Uh, . . .
He showed even less regard for the citizens of Iraq….
May 8th, 2008 at 10:04 pmHow many innocent men, women and children are dead, maimed,injured or homeless refugees because of the actions or inactions of this creep.
Heck! Rummy wasn’t even competent enough for Bushco. That’s incompetent!
May 8th, 2008 at 10:21 pmIIRC, didn’t Rummy threaten to fire the next person that brought up the subject of post-war planning???
May 8th, 2008 at 11:05 pmThe Generals said a lot of things that the Bush Administration chose not to listen to.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:13 pmAnother potatoe for the crackpot stew.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:13 pmWe should make Rummy drive a Volkswagen ‘Bug’ with a daisy on the dash and work at Chili’s serving spoiled yuppies margaritas on the rocks and quesadillas. Heh.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:21 pmSo the munitions depots, which could have been secured with enough troops, were left unguarded to be looted.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:41 pmHeckuva job Rummy.
This is so typical of this admin, Pass the buck.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:10 amJust like 9/11, no one owns up and takes responsibility. Failure, Complete Utter Failures. In every sense of the word.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:13 amAnd to think, that there’s still a % of the country that still listen to these dolts.
If you had the blood on your hands from such a disaster as the Iraq disaster (it is NOT a war) you, too, would not be able to face the truth. So now he is delusional and senile which will serve his purposes in the accountability department. No Rethug is responsible for anything unless (s)he says so.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:25 amZooey is right, Life goes on for some. not the over 1 million Iraqi’s ,not the 4073 us service personel,and life does go on for the over 25,000 injured who have lost legs,arms,eyes. nice. those folks will have a great life now.Thanks to Rummy and his co-horts doing their impression of Hitlers general staff.dumbass’s.serious dumbass’s
May 9th, 2008 at 12:25 amWho could have predicted the SecDef would be such a weenie?
May 9th, 2008 at 12:25 am.
Let me guess…
It’s those darned known unknowns that keep fouling it up… YES?
.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:50 amWar Criminal! The CIA builds em well I tell ya, this guy is slick.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:00 amXisithrus said:
No way! Rummy can’t have my great job in an economy like this! He needs to work his way up. He needs to start by testing the ice for fecal matter with his tongue and cleaning the bathrooms after $1 Margarita night.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:22 amRummy-Scummy, you should know that you plan war with
May 9th, 2008 at 3:07 am“the generals you have, not the generals you wish you had.”
“You plan a war with the generals you have – not with Doug Feith and Paul Wolfowitz”
Ronald Dumsfeld has a great sense of humor and a quick wit, but he’s reckless, not very bright, impatient, hotheaded and oblivious to details.
John McCain has a great sense of humor and a quick wit, but he’s reckless, not very bright, impatient, hotheaded and oblivious to details.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:02 amDid Bush really think he had any chance of “winning” what ever it was he was going to “win” in Iraq when he put Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Rove, Feith, and Bremer “in charge” so he could play “war President?” All of these clowns has slunk back beneath their neocon rocks while the “war President” sits in the White House more disgraced than Nixon (and less popular, too).
May 9th, 2008 at 7:11 amBut let us not forget one overriding truth: ONE AMERICAN SOLDIER’S BOOTS IN IRAQ WAS TOO MUCH BECAUSE REGIME CHANGE IS A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE INVASION OF IRAQ WAS A WAR CRIME, IF NOT TECHNICALLY, THEN MORALLY!!!
May 9th, 2008 at 8:23 amArguing over whether Rumsfeld is a liar or incompetent somewhat misses the point.
WHY HAS GWB NOT BEEN IMPEACHED?!?
Clinton gets an impeachable blowjob and is the butt of jokes for all time but a psychopathic lying mass murderer sits in the White House UNMOLESTED!!!
Rumsfeld should be in jail.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:58 amThe proof is in the pudding. Shinseki did not pull the number 380,000 out of the sky. The Army manual says it takes some many troops per thousand. Extrapolating that to Iraq’s population was the end result which was 380,000. Not exactly rocket science. Rumsfeld choose not to support his General’s and in fact forced Shinseki into early retirement.
On May 1, 2003 Bush declared that major combat operation were over and a banner the Whitehouse created declared “mission accomplished”.
Rumsfeld, in other words, is full of it. While Rumsfeld thought he was invincible his resignation did not fix the problem because nothing really changed. Bush simply went out and found another crew of yes men. We are still destroying Iraq. Just look at the current human misery facing the citizens of Sadr City. Two soccer stadiums are being prepared for the refugees fleeing Sadr City.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:05 amLook at the bright side. At least he didn’t try to pin it on Bill Clinton.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:09 amWANTED: Fireproof sign reading “Welcome Busco!” Call 666,ask for satan.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:42 am“Death has a tendency to encourage such a depressing view of war” Donald Rumsfeld is neck deep in the lies that led to the invasion and occupation hey maybe you can pull up the picture of Donny and Saddam shaking hands. Enemy of my enemy WTF????
May 9th, 2008 at 9:53 amTypical American corporate bulls*** artist……if it goes well he takes the credit for it….
if it goes wrong, he takes none of the blame
Same corporate principle as socialize the losses and privatize the profits.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:55 amDallasNE Says:
Just look at the current human misery facing the citizens of Sadr City. Two soccer stadiums are being prepared for the refugees fleeing Sadr City.
I would if I could, but I’ve noticed that the corporate media has just about completely stopped reporting on Iraq a couple weeks ago. No reporting on the walling off and partitioning of Sadr City and I’ve haven’t seen anything on the soccer stadium.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:13 amMy theory is the corporate media propaganda machine is preparing for the upcoming U.S. elections by attempting to remove or minimize Iraq as an issue.
I find I have to check out Juan Cole or the McClatchey News Service and blogs to get any news about what is going on over there. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when you have to visit an Al Jezeera site for info on what our military is up to because our own media has stopped it’s reporting.
Yeah, there is and was a manual. In fact, the counter-insurgency manual was written by Gen. Petreaus and it called for 1 troop for every 40 civilians…that would be approximately 600,000 troops in 2003. Hey, but what do facts matter in todays politics. What are a few war crimes between enemies.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:15 amDidn’t they use 1.6 Million Allied forces to hold German at the end of WWII? Please correct me if I am wrong.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:17 amfix…”German” should be “Germany”….oops
May 9th, 2008 at 10:18 amRumsfeld was a chief advocate to conduct the war on the cheap. Look at where it got us. Shinseki’s reward for suggesting this? HE WAS FIRED!
May 9th, 2008 at 11:30 amRumsfeld is a corporatist. A traitor. He should STFU!
Always the arrogant tyrant, when Rummy was CEO of Searle in the 70s, everyone there was afraid of him. If employees were on an elevator and he wanted to board it, they had to leave so he and his gang could ride.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:17 pmHe must have needed a lot of NutraSweet to cover up the cyanide taste of the Neocon KoolAid.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:30 pmDumb Question: If I take Rumsfield at his word (I said it was a dumb question). The Generals didn’t do their planning.
Well Rumsfield was in charge of overseeing this. Shrub was the Commander in Chief. As the “captain of the ship” wouldn’t the “Buck Stop Here” ?
May 9th, 2008 at 1:24 pmRumsfeld – you are such an ASS!
Life doesn’t go on for more than 4,000 brave men and women, you ass!
May 9th, 2008 at 1:44 pm