Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (468237)	10/1/2003 9:16:23 AM
From: Doug R	Respond to of 769670

Former Centcom commander says heads should roll at the Pentagon WASHINGTON (AFP) Oct 01, 2003 A former top US military commander called late Tuesday for the dismissal of key Pentagon officials, saying he was "disappointed" by their failure to properly plan for post-war developments in Iraq and warning that the US military could reach "the breaking point." Retired general Anthony Zinni, who headed the US Central Command from 1997 to 2000, did not name the officials he would like to see leave. But when asked on PBS television's "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" if heads should roll at the Department of Defense, Zinni answered: "Absolutely." "Any time we lose lives, any time we have miscalculated, any time we have to go back to the American people and ask for more treasure, more sacrifice and it was not calculated and it should have been, then somebody should be held responsible," he pointed out. He also made it clear he did not think highly of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the main driving force behind Operation Iraqi Freedom. "I'm disappointed in the planning for this operation," Zinni said when asked to assess Rumsfeld's performance. "I'm disappointed in what was advertised as transformation of the military. I have yet to see it. I don't understand it. I see a military that's very strained, that could reach the breaking point." Speaking in Congress earlier Wednesday, Rumsfeld said that charges that the Pentagon had no plan for post-war Iraq were "just utter nonsense." But Zinni insisted that management of the US armed forces and their structure "has not become clear and maybe is not realistic in looking at the situations we face in the world." As lawmakers debated a new Bush administration request for 87 billion dollars for post-war Iraq and Afghanistan, the retired general decried the military being "more and more saddled with conflict resolution," for which, he said, it has not been trained. "If you are going to saddle those units that have that responsibility with these other missions, you draw them away from that training, from that proficiency that they have to maintain," he warned. Zinni also said he believed the administration "exaggerated" the threat to US national security from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in advance of the war. "And I think that's dangerous," he pointed out. "We've been down that road before. If it was to take down Saddam because he is bad and evil, if it was to improve things in the region, if it was a strategic decision based on some strategic assessment, it should have run on its own merits." In the run-up to the war, President George W. Bush accused Iraq of failing to get rid of weapons of mass destruction as required by UN resolutions -- and of maintaining secret ties with the al-Qaeda terror network responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States. But his administration has so far failed to find either chemical or biological weapons in Iraq or provide solid proof of the Saddam-al-Qaeda connection. spacewar.com

To: Bill who wrote (468237)	10/1/2003 10:47:09 AM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Kerry, Clark, Dean are running for president, not Hillary. Quit readingt the stupid right-wing conspiracy websites trying to promote Hillary. She scored a 70% negative rating in New Hampshire last week. She has no chance and will definitely not run. She is only the GOP's choice to run. But this is really just a dirty trick to try and smear Clark and take up valuable airtime. It's also an attempt to hoodwink rightwing supporters and get them to contribute more money. The Bushies con their own supporters just as they con everyone else.