by Cedric Mcclester

Created on: October 15, 2007

Did We Really Need Sanchez To Tell Us?

Now it's Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez that's joining the litany of generals who have said the ill-conceived, poorly planned and disastrously executed war in Iraq is a lost cause. Sanchez rightly characterized the Bush administation's handling of the war as "incompetent" and "a nightmare with no end in sight," was a former top commander in Iraq, until the Abu Garaib scandal broke. Lt. Gen. Sanchez retired in 2006 after being replaced in Iraq as a consequence of the Abu Garaib scandal.

Unrestrained by the duties of office, Sanchez has let loose with a steady stream of criticism of the Bush administration and their failed war policies. " After more than four 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," Gen. Sanchez said at a gathering of military reporters and editor in Arlington, Va. According to the New York Times, he is the most senior of a string of retired officers who have harshly criticized the administration's conduct of the war. Much of the previous criticism was leveled at the verbose, egomaniacal Donald Rumsfeld the former Defense Secretary, Gen. Sanchez' criticism was a much broader attack encompassing the overall course of the war.

Gen. Sanchez is vulnerable to charges that he is shifting blame from himself to an administration that ultimately replaced him and declined to nominate him for a fourth star, forcing him to retire. It should be mentioned, Sanchez was cleared of any wrong doing in the Abu Gharaib scandal by the Army's inspector general. Now Mr. Sanchez says he realized the American effort in Iraq was failing the day after he took command, in June 2003. Always the good soldier, Sanchez says by way of mea culpa said he waited a full year after resigning to come out of the closet , so to speak because, "It is not the place of active-duty officers to challenge lawful orders from civilian authorities." Sanchez promises even more revelations in a book he plans to write. He has only served to point out what most people in this country who are paying attention have known. We are going no place fast in Iraq.

It is inexplicable Republican party continues to support this war, in the face of all of the criticism that the war has received from those who should know. There is no logical justification for their continued support. They must be the party of death and destruction. Through our continued presence in Iraq, we are serving as a magnet for terrorists who have yet to be born. It has clearly had a negative effect as well as affect on our alleged war on terror. Under the Bush administration, we have lost focus. Instead of doing the necessary due diligence in Afghanistan we allowed ourselves to become diverted in Iraq, which had nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism or Nine-Eleven. Petreus has, so don't be surprised if he ends up speaking up upon retirement.

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