Gen. Sanchez assails Bush, others for Iraq 'nightmare'
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The former U.S. commander in Iraq, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, has delivered a withering indictment of the the White House's handling of the war, telling a gathering of military journalists that "America is living a nightmare with no end in sight.”
“There was been a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders,” said Sanchez, who commanded U.S. forces from June 2003 to July 2004.
"After more than fours years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism," Sanchez said, adding that a military-only strategy will simply "stave off defeat," not achieve victory. “From a catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan, to the administration’s latest surge strategy, this administration has failed to employ and synchronize the political, economic and military power.”
He also also assailed government officials of being “derelict in their duties” and guilty of a “lust for power."
"The administration, Congress and the entire inter-agency, especially the State Department, must shoulder the responsibility for this catastrophic failure and the American people must hold them accountable."
Sanchez is the most senior military officer to criticize the administration's prosecution of the war. He said he did not he speak out sooner because officers take an oath to carry out the orders of the president while in uniform.
“The last thing that America wants, the last thing that you want, is for currently serving general officers to stand up against our political leadership,” he said.
No immediate comment from the White House.
During Sanchez's command, Saddam Hussein was captured and Iraqis regained sovereignty over their country. But his tensure was overshadowed by the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and the rise of the insurgency.
Read more from Stars and Stripes and the New York Times.
(Department of Defense file photo) |
