Lt. Gen Sanchez: Bush Administration Guilty of “Gross Incompetence and Dereliction of Duty”
EmailLost in the coverage of the Democratic presidential race and the scathing memoir by Scotty McClellen is the autobiography just published by a former commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (Ret.)
In "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier’s Story," Gen. Sanchez goes into detail about various military blunders that led to where we are today.
In one excerpt, published by TIME, Sanchez explains why there were inadequate troop levels in Iraq for a time:
"CENTCOM had originally called for twelve to eighteen months of Phase IV activity with active troop deployments. But then CENTCOM had completely walked away by simply stating that the war was over and Phase IV was not their job.
"That decision set up the United States for a failed first year in Iraq. There is no question about it. And I was supposed to believe that neither the Secretary of Defense nor anybody above him knew anything about it? Impossible! Rumsfeld knew about it. Everybody on the NSC knew about it, including Condoleezza Rice, George Tenet, and Colin Powell. Vice President Cheney knew about it. And President Bush knew about it.
"There’s not a doubt in my mind that they all embraced this decision to some degree. And if it had not been for the moral courage of Gen. John Abizaid to stand up to them all and reverse Franks’s troop drawdown order, there’s no telling how much more damage would have been done.
"In the meantime, hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars were unnecessarily spent, and worse yet, too many of our most precious military resource, our American soldiers, were unnecessarily wounded, maimed, and killed as a result. In my mind, this action by the Bush administration amounts to gross incompetence and dereliction of duty."
In an excerpt published on NPR’s website, Sanchez writes
"In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I watched helplessly as the Bush administration led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions. It became painfully obvious that the executive branch of our government did not trust its military. It relied instead on a neoconservative ideology developed by men and women with little, if any, military experience. Some senior military leaders did not challenge civilian decision makers at the appropriate times, and the courageous few who did take a stand were subsequently forced out of the service…I saw the cynical use of war for political gains by elected officials and acquiescent military leaders. I learned how the pressure of a round-the-clock news cycle could drive crucial decisions. I witnessed those resulting political decisions override military requirements and judgments and, in turn, create conditions that caused unnecessary harm to our soldiers on the ground…"
"Over the fourteen months of my command in Iraq, I witnessed a blatant disregard for the lives of our young soldiers in uniform. It is an issue that constantly eats away at me.
There’s an odd anecdote recounted in today’s Washington Post of a videoconference with President Bush held after four contractors were killed in Fallujah in 2004. Bush, Sanchez writes, began a "confused" pep talk:
"Kick ass!" Bush said, according to Sanchez. "If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can’t send that message. It’s an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal. There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!"
And regarding Abu Ghraib, Sanchez writes — according to Eli Lake of the New York Sun — that the U.S. was torturing prisoners.
A remarkable admission.
"During the last few months of 2002, while the highest levels of the U.S. government were sparring with Saddam Hussein and setting up the case for an invasion of Iraq, there is irrefutable evidence that America was torturing and killing prisoners in Afghanistan…In retrospect, the Bush administration’s new policy triggered a sequence of events that led to the use of harsh interrogation tactics against not only al Qaeda prisoners, but also eventually prisoners in Iraq—in spite of our best efforts to restrain such unlawful conduct."
Probably the book won’t merit as much media attention as McClellen’s book, but it sounds like it should.
- jpt
Rick Santorum Sweeps 3 States 
Pentagon to Open Additional Jobs to Women
No doubt Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld bungled Iraq. But let’s remember two truths. Frst, there’s money to be made from Bush administration tell-all books right now so we need to keep that in mind as accusations are made. That doesn’t mean their content is necessarily false, it simply means that the harsher and more tantalizing the criticism, the more potential for financial gain by the author. Secondly, since the connection is sure to be made by McCain’s opponents, McCain isn’t Bush. Where Bush was woefully ignorant and brash, McCain is knowledgeable and level-headed. I trust him to bring a safe and sane conclusion to the War in Iraq.
The Bush administration is the worst of my lifetime. No question about it. But aren’t these tell-all books too little too late to really matter at this point since the damage is done? As with all things, follow the money. That’s what’s behind these books; it certainly supercedes any moral obligation to truth or the American people.
Posted by: HoosierSue | June 2, 2008, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm
“Probably the book won’t merit as much media
attention as McClellen’s book, but it sounds
like it should.”
jpt
Ya’d think so, wouldn’t ya? There is the argument available that Sanchez is retaliating for being forced out over Abu Ghraib.
Posted by: Lee C. ― U.S.A. | June 2, 2008, 12:29 pm 12:29 pm
Why isn’t this testamonial not being blared across the headlines of America’s News publishers?
Thank God for heroes like General Sanchez. This is the story with the real meat. Scott McClellan’s book is simply the garnish.
Posted by: BooMan | June 2, 2008, 12:29 pm 12:29 pm
And Congress is going to do what about this? This is no surprise to anyone who’s been paying any attention at all, but we citizens appear to be powerless to do anything about our rogue administration. It’s depressing.
Posted by: Marilyn | June 2, 2008, 12:33 pm 12:33 pm
HoosierSue
You’re missing the point. People aren’t cashing in. They can’t write a book while they’re part of the administration. They don’t have time. And once out of office, it takes time to write a book.
It seems you’re trying to make a back door endorsement of McCain by denouncing the motives of the books. McCain will have to stand or fall on his own regard.
To me, the books actually act as a public service after the lies we were feed over the past years.
Posted by: jptrenn | June 2, 2008, 12:34 pm 12:34 pm
Bush/McCain Republican Leadership = Incompetent Leadership. Period. Let’s get rid of these unpatriotic, self-serving morons.
Posted by: Joe Reed | June 2, 2008, 12:34 pm 12:34 pm
All hail the democrat controlled congress for doing as they promised and had their mandate to prosecute this administration.
Oh you mean the didn’t do anything? Nothing at all?
So vote in more pathetic INCOMPETENT democrats in.
ROTFLMAO!
Posted by: GTA | June 2, 2008, 12:44 pm 12:44 pm
George Bush’s legacy is BIG War, BIG banks, BIG Internationals, and BIG China. Want more of the same? then vote for McCain.
Posted by: christimarie | June 2, 2008, 12:56 pm 12:56 pm
The basic conservative philosophy is “don’t trust the government!” However, when the government is a bunch of neo-con war-lovers who want to stick their noses into every corner of the world, conservatives brains somehow switch gears to, “How DARE you claim our government LIED to us!” This brain confusion would be quite funny, if it weren’t for tens of thousands of brave Americans who have been killed or maimed for life by these lies.
Posted by: AlChemist | June 2, 2008, 12:57 pm 12:57 pm
Interesting of Liberals- they call a General who seems to have an axe to grind and says all this while soldiers are in harms way knowing it will be used as propaganda for the enemy a hero!!
What a joke, they say this without knowing the guys history -
At the time of his retirement, Lieutenant General Sanchez called his career a casualty of the Abu Ghraib scandal
Sanchez held the top military position in Iraq during what was arguably one of the most critical periods of the war—the year after the fall of the Hussein regime, and the time the insurgency took root and began its counterattack
If he was commander of the forces at the time he was complaining he could of said something then and there!!
He retired over two years ago, why the book Now? could it be he is an Obama supporter and getting millions for this book from the same liberel George Soros and Scott is??
Posted by: spock | June 2, 2008, 12:57 pm 12:57 pm
Anybody feel like voting OUT the incumbents yet??? Nah, I didn’t think so. But feel free to whine amongst yourselves and have a false sense of pride for your worthless opinion. Words without actions are WORTHLESS…
Posted by: pity | June 2, 2008, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm
jptrenn, no back-door endorsement of McCain. I was simply being proactive in the response that I knew would come from Obamadroids – and Nat delivered with the first post, right on cue!
One man’s public service is another man’s cash cow. Of course, the two aren’t automatically exclusive of each other. But the money sure helps, doesn’t it?
Posted by: HoosierSue | June 2, 2008, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm
How could you go on living with yourself knowing that these military people had put their lives in your hands, and knowing you had abused that trust?
All of us are shamed by this dishonor because we allowed it.
Posted by: Curious | June 2, 2008, 1:05 pm 1:05 pm
Excellent article. I praise ABC news for being the leader in morally correct news media. “Moral” and “Liberal” are two separate items. It takes more courage to stand up to stupidity than to lay down and accept all our leaders tell us is right. Politically correct and moraly correct do not go together. Bush’s murderous regime as a governor (questionable executions) went unnoticed in the light of the petty immorality of Bill Clinton. I also had misgivings about George Senior’s decision not to liberate Baghdad, as he himself did. I figured I would give George Dubya his first term to make a case for going back there. As a result of the disasterous vietnam-like situation we now have, Voted for Kerry second time, and may never regain confidence in Republicans. I pray that more couragious men come forth an tell their stories. Its the least they can do to try and assure our Great country regains its diginity and leadership in world affairs. I think MSNBC is the real voice of liberalism that I judge as immoral, and they have done an injustice to human intelligence by exploiting the weaknesses of the uninformed, uneducated, and morally bankrupt mind (example; to catch a predator…lowlife garbage!!!!)
Posted by: Gary Mahoney | June 2, 2008, 1:23 pm 1:23 pm
These I said, he said, she said, who said books.
If these people knew anything while they were serving thier country, They also knew it was their responsibility to report it THEN.
In failing to do so, They should be arrested for Neglect and dereliction of duty. For Failing their country, The people of their country, and not doing their duty to Country.
They should not be given deals or plea bargains. They should be convicted to the fullest extreme of the law.
Writing a book to make money or to gain 15 min of fame, or to cover their butt.
People need to start being held accountable for their actions in government, or their major lack of action.
I think they should be prosecuted and That them and nothing in their books should be allowed as evidence against anyone.
Then maybe people in this government would take their jobs serious, have honor, duty and responsibility toward their government and the people.
Posted by: seah | June 2, 2008, 1:25 pm 1:25 pm
The good thing is that only 4,000+ Americans and 100,000+ Iraq citizens had to die; approximately 30,000 Americans are physically injured and the country lies in bankruptcy before the Generals and the Politicians have the guts to stand up and speak part of the truth. It could have been worse …
Wait a moment, it will be worse unless we, the citizens of this country, stand up and speak out and stop these spineless people who are taking over this country through the politics of politics.
We have had a preview of the “Democrats” not standing up but merely being lead by the misogynist male media to ordain an unqualified empty suit to run against John McCain. It’s about to get worse. Instead of sending your kids to college you will buying the necessary body armor to wrap them in, when the draft is reinstated to handle to the war John McCain will bring us. The spineless Democrats will do nothing, just as they failed to impeach Bush, failed to stop Bush, failed to even attempt to stop Bush, and failed to hold a fair election.
I know, let’s go to one of those misogynist churches to pray for protection from the stupidity that will envelop this country, as some of you kneel before a “man of God” and “hope” that it won’t. Kiss my ring!
Posted by: AmazonTraveler | June 2, 2008, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm
I am not old enough to remember but did McArther not just “fade away” when Truman fired him?
Posted by: smith | June 2, 2008, 2:18 pm 2:18 pm
I detect a vast right wing conspiracy to separate liberal readers from their money
Posted by: smith | June 2, 2008, 2:22 pm 2:22 pm
Yep a big blunder has been made over there in Iraq. The Bush administration is the nexus of power and arrogance, and we clearly see the horrible consequences. I myself will vote Ron Paul to support a more sensible foreign policy. Whomever you folks vote for avoid McCain. I don’t think we can afford an Iran debacle on top of everything else.
Posted by: Huh | June 2, 2008, 3:12 pm 3:12 pm
Everyone with a brain everywhere in the world knew from the outset that Bush is an incompetent.
Yet Bush was elected and RE-ELECTED?
Even Scot McClellan, an obvious incompetent if you watched his performance as Press Secretary, recognizes that Bush was ALWAYS an incompetent.
The problem is that America HAS BECOME a nation of incompetents!
And who do incompetents like as their leader? Other incompetents of course! lol
And to make matters worse, some Americans don’t mind tripling up on Bush with McCain’t. lol
Talk about a nation of people being suicidal, suicidal.
Posted by: Patriot | June 2, 2008, 3:13 pm 3:13 pm
How many Generals wrote books during WWII or Korean Conflict? If you believe there were ‘blunders’ in Iraq you would be shocked on what occurred in those two wars. Before we went into Iraq, Sanchez was aware of the estimates that we may lose up to 10,000 in a protracted urban battle. Maybe we did do something right. Finally, probably the reason his book is not getting the coverage is that nothing can smother critique better than success. Why do you think that coverage of Iraq has been void of late?
Posted by: dstupple | June 2, 2008, 3:18 pm 3:18 pm
dstupple – You overlooked the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis that have died. We also must care for 30,000+ wounded veterans for decades to come, and an image that will take decades to restore. The real question here is whether or not militaristic pre-emptive interventionist foreign policy is in our best interests for the reasons given by the Bush adminstration with regards to Iraq. To me, we have destabled the region in Iran’s favor for what we thought would be cheap oil taps.
Posted by: Huh | June 2, 2008, 3:25 pm 3:25 pm
I think it’s about time we started looking at war crimes or better yet Treason for the Bush administration!
Posted by: Gerry | June 2, 2008, 3:52 pm 3:52 pm
Let’s see, the man who was in charge of giving the truth to the media is fired, and two years later says he lied to the media.
The man who was in charge of the war in Iraq during Abu Ghraib retires insisting that nothing was done wrong, and two years later is saying that Abu Ghraib torture was true and we screwed up the war during his tenure.
If Bush retires and writes a tell-all book about how bad he screwed things up, I bet he’ll be hailed as a hero by the liberals as well.
After all, they LOVED Armitage (the man who “outed” Valerie Plame), and adored Richard Clarke, the man who was responsible for anti-terrorism up until shortly before the 9/11 attacks.
Posted by: Charles | June 2, 2008, 3:54 pm 3:54 pm
Barack Obama will win the incompetence contest between Bush and himself. Obama can’t even get his small senaate disrict in shape. Such a dud.
Posted by: Mary | June 2, 2008, 4:01 pm 4:01 pm
Sanchez: “Over the fourteen months of my command in Iraq, I witnessed a blatant disregard for the lives of our young soldiers in uniform. It is an issue that constantly eats away at me.”
Now that’s an admission of dereliction of duty in the line-of-duty if there every was one!!!
Is this Sanchez’s confession of guilt and failure as an officer in U.S. armed services or is it supposed to be an indictment of Bush and the Admin?
It reads as the former rather as opposed to the latter.
Posted by: Earlg | June 2, 2008, 4:28 pm 4:28 pm
Let’s see, Patriot thinks Bush is and idiot and McCain is a, hang on…let me see if I can get on Patriot’s non-incompetent level… McCain is a triple idiot, or some such.
Will Patriot be voting for Obama or Hilary, and how will this exempleur of competence explain their proposals to quickly draw down troops in Iraq without exposing the region to chaos.
Sanchez and McClellan are telling the side of the story their publishers have convinced them they need to tell to sell books (the Sanchez comment about “necconservatives” is typical red meat, and typical of comments about neoconservatism, general and ignorant). Whatever mistakes the Bush Administration have made in Iraq (and even those of us who thought and think that ousting Saddam was a good idea) were aided and abetted by these two. They’ve also been compounded by a constant media drumbeat for the kind of haphazard withdrawal from Iraq that Obama is planning and Clinton offers some limited support to. That drumbeat has only emboldened the enemy and given them reason to think they might outlast the US.
The surge has demonstrated that Al-Queda can be met head on and, combined with the fact that the Sunnis are becoming politically pragmatic, the news in Iraq looks hopeful.
There are a lot of people to blame for why it’s taken this long, but those who begin and end with the Bush Administration aren’t being any more honest than they accuse Bush of being.
Posted by: Huh? | June 2, 2008, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
I love that guy Al the Chemist: “…
Bush’s legacy…BIG China…” Always makin somethin outta nothin. BIG China, as I recall, was a gift from Bill Clinton (remember all them favored nation campaign contributions?).
Posted by: Paddyspig | June 2, 2008, 4:54 pm 4:54 pm
I’m amazed at the statements of support here for Patraeus.
General Patraeus is the terrorists best friend. Rather than actually trying to protect his troops and carry out his mission, this failure of a general is deliberately funneling dollars to the Sunni insurgency, one of the crackpot schemes of the so-called ‘surge’. Literally engaging in financial support of terrorists with links to Al-Q and the fundamentalist Islam of Saudi Arabia.
How on earth is this a winning strategy? Hes as much of a general as Bush is a president. Neither of them are fit to lick the mud off the boots of a true American hero like General Sanchez.
Posted by: Bob | June 2, 2008, 8:59 pm 8:59 pm
Sanchez was an “affirmative action” (i.e., racial/ethnic quota) “general”.
Posted by: Tom | June 3, 2008, 1:01 am 1:01 am
I wish Mcellan and Sanchez had quit to show of a protest against this administration rather than be forced out and write these books after the fact. They could’ve written a book still after they quit. Never the less, as a saying goes it’s better late than never I’m glad they’re doing it. I think Sanchez was forced out anyway.
If there’s ever a time impeachment process should be used, this is it but there is none. I heard that impeachment is a political decision, not criminal decision or something to that effect on radio but I disagree. As a country, if we want to come clean and reclaim world standing and credibility… as a country, if we want to tell the future generation that this cannot happen without repercussion and this isn’t acceptable, Congress would do something. Blame this one on republican who would never vote for an impeachment and Pelosi who said impeachment is off the table, simply ignoring one of the duties that they’re required to do. History will be witten as this is the worst Prez/administration ever… unless of course Rove and Fox (Fix) News can somehow manage to avert this, calling historian unpatriotic, cowards, left wing bloggers, etc…
Posted by: Smokemon | June 3, 2008, 4:36 am 4:36 am
It puzzles me to no end that the incompetent and grossly negligent Bush administration is still in charge in Washington.
It puzzles me even more that no one is
is stating the obvious solution to
the mess. That is, to correct lies you have to state the truth. Amerika has to apologize to the Iraqis for taking over their homeland and killing them in the thousands.
They also have to apologize to the nations of the earth for trouncing underfoot human rights through out the world.
They also have to get rid of their imperialistic goals and go home and fix their government and their economy and then mind their own business.
Posted by: Alex | June 3, 2008, 5:41 am 5:41 am
Its easy enough to have moral clarity in hindsight, but what no-one seems to discuss is why Gen Sanchez, McClellan, etc , said almost nothing when they were actually in a position to make a difference. What is with all this latent heroism? Why does it only come out in ways that make them money? I cannot in clear conscience call any of these monday morning quarterbacks patriots. Instead of embracing them on their PR tours to promote their books we should be denouncing them for cowardice .
Posted by: Mike | June 3, 2008, 11:13 am 11:13 am
I think the latent heroism surfaced five years later in response to the unpopularity polls of Bush and the Iraq war and to the final winding down of the administration. It’s a lot easier to be heroic far after the facts and actually quite debatable if the word heroism even applies.
Posted by: katrina | June 3, 2008, 12:30 pm 12:30 pm
Gen Sanchez is to be commended for having the courage to step forward and speak the truth. This speaks loudly of his integrity and honor. Choosing to not go quietly in to the background, speaks loudly to his values. This is a display of a true General.
McCain is not Bush. The people of America need to realize this before it is too late. Charismatic leadership is not the answer to America’s future.
Posted by: sav | October 25, 2008, 5:21 pm 5:21 pm