Via the Mudville Gazette:
Last year, pre-surge (pre-US elections) retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton appears before congress, excoriates the Bush administration and demands a surge of troops for Iraq.
Batiste and his colleagues offered their solution: more troops, more money and more time in Iraq. “We must mobilize our country for a protracted challenge,” Batiste warned.
“We better be planning for at least a minimum of a decade or longer,” contributed retired Marine Col. Thomas Hammes.
“We are, conservatively, 60,000 soldiers short,” added retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who was in charge of building the Iraqi Security Forces.
This year, in television advertisements for his political group “VoteVets”, he says:
President Bush says he listens to his military commanders. Well, Mr. President, I was one of those commanders, and you weren’t listening when we warned you of the dangers we would face invading Iraq. Now our military is overcommitted, and America is less secure.
Mr. President, you’re being told we need serious diplomacy, not escalation, and you’re still not listening.
If the president won’t listen, Congress must.
So the general either lied while in uniform or he is lying now. One or the other it is that simple.
There is nothing worse than a Clinton general who (like Harry Reid and other have already) plays politics with their opinions on the use of military forces. Cozying up to the President when he finally listens to those who promoted the surge is something I guess some can’t do.
Reminds of what Schwartzkopf said, “I feel that retired generals should never miss an opportunity to remain silent concerning matters for which they are no longer responsible.”
These “VoteVets” yahoos are doing this for the politics not the troops. Their ethics and their inconsistency prove it. I say we follow the money.
Clinton is no longer your C-in-C, and you no longer serve, get over it.
