Former Generals Launch Devastating Attack On 'Incompetent' Rumsfeld

Extracted from Daily Mail on 25th September 2006
by DAVID GARDNER

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was under siege from his own military tonight as he faced a growing rebellion over his handling of the Iraq war.

Retired American army chiefs broke ranks to demand Rumsfeld be fired, accusing him of bungling the invasion and sending troops into battle with sub-standard equipment and hiding facts from the public.

One described Rumsfeld as "incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically." And in the clearest sign yet of a disturbing split between the White House and the military over the Iraqi quagmire, the army’s top serving officer, General Peter Schoomaker, has clashed with Rumsfeld over funding for the war.

The army’s chief of staff has refused to present his 2008 budget to Pentagon leaders, claiming he needs at least an additional £15 billion to maintain the current troop levels in Iraq.
It is an unprecedented move and comes just a day after America’s spy chiefs turned on President Bush to claim the Iraq war had fuelled Islamic terrorism around the world, rather than lessened the threat, as the administration has consistently claimed in recent months.
And it brings the debate over the president’s performance in Iraq back to centre stage just six weeks before America’s crucial mid-term elections, which are certain to be dominated by the war.

In yet another PR blow that is certain to spark unrest among troops serving in Iraq, the army admitted yesterday it has been forced to extend the combat tours of about 4,000 soldiers who were supposed to return home shortly.

With troops stretched to breaking point, the 1st Brigade of 1st Armored Division, which is operating in the vicinity of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, will be kept in place for several weeks beyond their scheduled departure.

In late July, about 300 soldiers from an Alaska-based unit had already returned home and were ordered to go straight back to Iraq. The brigade is now operating in Baghdad.

Wrath
Rumsfeld faced the wrath of his old guard yesterday as three retired army leaders went public with their criticisms.

An earlier attack by retired military commanders in April prompted a vote of confidence in his Defence chief from President Bush.

In one astonishing allegation yesterday, Retired Major General John R.S. Batiste, who commanded the Army's 1st Infantry Division in Iraq, said Rumsfeld at one point threatened to fire the next person who mentioned the need for a postwar plan in Iraq.

"I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the administration did not tell the American people the truth for fear of losing support for the war in Iraq," added Batiste in remarks prepared for a hearing by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

A second witness, retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who also served in Iraq, called for Rumsfeld to be replaced. He assessed the Pentagon boss as "incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically."

Batiste, Eaton and retired Col. Paul X. Hammes were unsparing in remarks that suggested deep anger at the way the military had been treated. All three served in Iraq, and Batiste also was senior military assistant to then-Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz.

Batiste said if full consideration had been given to the requirements for war, it's likely the US would have kept its focus on Afghanistan, "not fuelled Islamic fundamentalism across the globe, and not created more enemies than there were insurgents."

Hammes claimed there was a "serious moral failure on the part of our leadership" by not providing troops with the best equipment.

The United States "did not ask our soldiers to invade France in 1944 with the same armour they trained on in 1941. Why are we asking our soldiers and Marines to use the same armour we found was insufficient in 2003?" added Hammes, who was in charge of setting up new bases for the Iraqi armed forces.

Eaton was responsible for training the Iraqi military and later for rebuilding the police force. He said planning for the postwar period was "amateurish at best, incompetent a better description."

General Schoomaker failed to submit his required budget plan by an August 15 deadline following a series of cuts in the army’s spending requests by both the White House and Congress over the past four months.

He is asking for about £90 billion for 2008, £15 million more than budget limits originally set by Rumsfeld.