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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (14322)	10/30/2003 12:03:22 AM
From: JF Quinnelly	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 793690

Gonna be nice to have you around to argue with, JFQ. Steven's welcome gave you a good "Brand Name" with me. I'm not sure what you mean by "Brand name", but I suspect you're about 180 degrees out. Rumsfeld is reported to have offered the CSA to General Franks, who chose to retire rather than take the job. Shinseki isn't Rumsfeld's only critic. Maybe just the most vocal. The service punishes public criticism of civilian leadership, witness Jimmy Carter's firing of General Singlaub when he publicly criticized Carter's plan for withdrawing US forces from the ROK. That didn't make Singlaub a "perfumed prince", it made Carter a fool. The same applies to Rumsfeld, whose glib press conferences don't make him an expert on warfare. Rummy got a chance to test his "faster and lighter" vision versus obsolete armor in the Iraq war. American forces ran up against an Iraqi position near Baghdad, and the generals planned on using artillery to dislodge them. Rummy's staff overruled this plan. It was a perfect chance to show what faster and lighter could do. A flight of Apaches was sent to deal with the Iraqis instead. The Iraqis proceeded to shoot up the lightly armored Apaches, downing at least one and shooting holes through the rest. They returned to base without dislodging the Iraqis. Obsolete howitzers were then brought up, and proceeded to wreak havoc on the Iraqi positions. You are right, the service is too top heavy. Clearing out Rummy and his Whiz Kids would be an excellent start. Give the Army back to the professionals.