WP: Pentagon Official Admits Iraq Errors (Douglas Feith)

[Pirate Smile]

Pentagon Official Admits Iraq Errors

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 13, 2005; Page A12

Douglas J. Feith, a top Pentagon official who was deeply involved in planning the Iraq war, said there were significant missteps in the administration's strategy, including the delayed transfer of power to a new Iraqi government, and said he did not know whether the invading U.S. force was the right size.

In an interview as he concludes his tenure as undersecretary of defense for policy, Feith acknowledged that there were "trade-offs" and "pros and cons" to the Pentagon's plan to use a relatively small invasion force in Iraq, voicing uncertainty about whether that decision was correct. The war's "rolling start" with a streamlined ground force achieved some tactical surprise, he said, potentially averting a longer war and other catastrophes such as destruction of Iraqi oil fields. But he acknowledged that a small force had drawbacks, and others have criticized the plan for failing to stop widespread looting and insecurity after the Saddam Hussein's government fell in April 2003.

"I am not asserting to you that I know that the answer is, we did it right. What I am saying is it's an extremely complex judgment to know whether the course that we chose with its pros and cons was more sensible," Feith said in a 90-minute interview Monday evening at his Bethesda home.

Feith's resignation was announced in January. His comments are a rare public sign of doubt about Iraqi policy by a Pentagon official.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/12/AR2005071201422.html

[AlCzervik]

1. No shit Doug. 1st mistake-going there

i don't think it much matters after that.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

2. Hey, Feith, the first step was the role you played in lying about....

...the Iraq WMDs.

You and your Pentagon-based intelligence group are guilty of treason, nothing less.

[Botany]

3. Gee, no kiding Doug

130,000 troops in a country of 26 million where they are not wanted
to look for weapons that were not there after an attack by people who
had nothing to do with Iraq ...... mistakes? Oh Doug quit being so hard
on your self ..... you fucking asshole.

[Botany]

4. One more post ......

Is doug the rat jumping from the S.S. bush?

Something major is about to break!

[driver8]

5. Hell...I never would have guessed it. Things are going so smoothly.

If these guys had pulled their heads out of their asses about three years ago, 1,700+ Americans might still be alive.

Fuck you, Feith -- you've got a lot of blood on your hands.

[KeepItReal]

6. Most important point: BUSH & CO DETERMINED TROOP LEVELS NOT MILITARY BRASS

"On troop levels in Iraq, Feith said U.S. military commanders -- not the Pentagon -- determined the flow of and number of forces into the country. "I don't believe there was a single case where the commander asked for forces and didn't get them . . . the commander controlled the forces in the theater," he said.

Senior U.S. Army officers dispute this view, saying the Pentagon cut off the planned influx of nine division-equivalents into Iraq in the war's initial phase. Feith acknowledged it is difficult to strike the right balance between having too few troops to provide security and an overly large occupation force, which he said risked "increasing antagonism, increasing friction, increasing the number of soldiers we had sitting around waiting for intelligence that we didn't have.""

----

These bastards hide behind and now lie on the Military, knowing that the people in uniform cannot challenge the Civilian imbeciles in charge like Feith, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, etc.

[WhiteTara]

7. sounds like those wake ups at 2 am

are getting to him. I hope he never has a decent night's sleep again.

[Roland99]

8. As Franks called him, "the stupidest fucking person on earth"

or something.

[bemildred]

9. And coming from Franks, who is expert on stupid, you have to believe.

:thumbsup:

[LynnTheDem]

10. "the fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth"

Of course General Franks doesn't have much room to talk.

[UpInArms]

17. it takes one to know one ............... eom

[applegrove]

11. "Didn't know if the invading force was the right size". My ASS!

Rumsfield cut the General's battle plans down to 200,000 from 500,000 using bullying and constant pressure on the military experts.

What parsing of language.

[daleo]

12. Not a mistake, a crime.

The whole thing was a war crime. Feith should be in prison along with the rest of them, paying for his 'mistake' like any other prisoner.

[Straight Shooter]

13. "a rare public sign of doubt"

squeak, squeak, squeak ... SPLASH!

[IndianaGreen]

14. "and other catastrophes such as destruction of Iraqi oil fields"

That's all this sob cares about, damned OIL! Feith doesn't care about the tens of thousand innocent Iraqi civilians that our gloriously Jesus-led troops have butchered in Iraq.

I hope Feith is happy with himself when Iraq comes out of the occupation as a virulent anti-Israel Islamic republic, more dangerous that it ever was under Saddam.

[acmavm]

15. Freaking little weasel is still sticking to his guns, 'we did it right'.

He helped skew all the intelligence...actually, he lied. He needs to go on trial with the rest of them.

[Rose Siding]

16. Does he really believe they "achieved some tactical surprise"

Is he kidding with that?

The war's "rolling start" with a streamlined ground force achieved some tactical surprise, he said, potentially averting a longer war and other catastrophes such as destruction of Iraqi oil fields.

[WCGreen]

18. Please note incompetance in this Administration

Warrents an appearence on pg 12......

Clinton gets a blow job....


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