Cynthia Tucker: Active-Duty Generals Will ‘Revolt’ Against Bush

[cal04]

Tucker: Active-Duty Generals Will ‘Revolt’ Against Bush If He Maintains Escalation Into 2008

Appearing on NBC’s Chris Matthews Show this morning, Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Cynthia Tucker revealed that sources within the military are warning of “a revolt from active-duty generals if September rolls around and the president is sticking with the surge into ‘08.” Watch it:

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/13/generals-revolt/

Noting that retired generals such as Gen. John Batiste have already begun voicing their discontent with the president’s strategy in Iraq, Tucker added that the generals “don’t want to fall by the wayside like the generals in Vietnam did, kept pushing a war that they knew was lost.”

When President Bush vetoed the Iraq timeline legislation earlier this month, he claimed that “the measure would ‘impose impossible conditions on our commanders in combat’ by forcing them to ‘take fighting directions from politicians 6,000 miles away in Washington, DC.’”

But despite past claims that “the right force level” will be determined by “the sober judgement of our military leaders,” the Bush administration has a proven track record of disregarding the advice of military leaders. As recently as last December, when the White House was first pushing its escalation plan, the administration explicitly ignored “the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

It appears the commanders on the ground in Iraq are getting tired of “taking fighting directions” from a politician “6,000 miles away” in the White House. And they might not stay quiet for long.

[wakeme2008]

1. Question is the Air Force now has a lot of Fundie Generals who

have no problem fighting a religious fight for their God. :shrug:

[formercia]

6. The Army controls the AAA. n/t

[drm604]

2. If that happens

won't Bush simply fire them and replace them with yes men?

[formercia]

9. I'm sure the list is already made.

I can just imagine an Argentine style military Junta here. Dirty War on a grand scale.

[EVDebs]

3. Whatever happened to the Powell Doctrine, let alone the Constitution ?

"Essentially, the Doctrine expresses that military action should be used only as a last resort and only if there is a clear risk to national security by the intended target; the force, when used, should be overwhelming and disproportionate to the force used by the enemy; there must be strong support for the campaign by the general public; and there must be a clear exit strategy from the conflict in which the military is engaged."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/iraq/powelldoctrine_short.html

One word: Lies

This administration's street cred is shot. No 'political capital' left, now only a gaping deficit !

[krkaufman]

15. Rumsfeld and Cheney, the true architects of this disaster ...

... marginalized Powell, and told Bush what to do. The "Powell Doctrine" was kicked to the curb.

[Kolesar]

4. Cynthia Tucker wrote about Saxby Chambliss' lame takeover of Max Cleland's Senate seat in 2002.

The details were that Cleland was holding out for union and wage protection for the airport TSA workers. Chambliss distorted it into the perverted prowar message.

Cynthia is the best!

[formercia]

5. Sounds like Der Fuhrer, illustrious tactician, and fearless leader

is telling the generals how to do their job.

I think this happened before, and we know how that turned out.

Commanding another 'Coalition of the Willing.'



Different Bogey man, same Schtick.

[Hubert Flottz]

7. George W GROFAZ...

I knew when W was playing drees up we were in big Twouble. He's ready for the Fuhrerbunker any day now. No retreat from Baghdadgrad, ain't gonna' work forever.

[OneBlueSky]

8. my dad was a career Army officer, and pretty conservative in his politics . . .

but I remember w-a-a-a-y back when (late 50s? early 60s?) he expressed the opinion that the military could take control of the country swiftly and completely if they felt the need to . . . by "need" I think he meant if the government ever got so bad that it was damaging the country . . . (this may have been around the time of the Bay of Pigs, now that I think about it) . . .

he knew the military culture and the chain of command, and I'm convinced he knew what he was talking about . . . and this was some 50 or so years ago . . .

[Nikki Stone1]

14. this country?

?

[wryter2000]

10. I had no idea she's so pretty

I think the SF Chronicle used to run a picture of her with her columns, but I don't remember that it was that attractive.

I sure hope she's right about active duty generals.

[gratuitous]

11. Somehow I don't think so

Because if it hasn't happened by now, after all the lies, all the atrocities, all the unnecessary death and destruction, after all the other nonsense that the military has let go by up to this point, the active-duty generals are as in it up to their eyeballs as the Bushies are. And what further will it take for a tipping point, a tipping point worse than what's happened up to this point, to be reached, that can serve as a reason for the military to quit their allegiance to a mad, out-of-control commander in chief?

[krkaufman]

16. I believe that the extent of "revolt" in Tucker's context ...

... is that they will openly criticize and resist Bush's directives; not so much that they would openly revolt and overthrow the government. (More like refusing to execute an illegal -- or insane -- order. Perhaps calling Bush's sanity and ability to command into question.)

[Vidar]

12. March on the White House now.

[Joey Liberal]

13. She's beautiful and I hope she's right:)...............n/t

[krkaufman]

17. Ummm, Cynthia... I don't think you have to wait until September.

See: 'More troops' call as Iraq murders soar

... the commander of US forces in northern Iraq, Major General Benjamin Mixon, admitted he did not have enough soldiers to contain the escalating violence in Diyala province ... Mixon, interviewed by The Observer earlier this year, has not made a secret of his frustration at the declining situation in Diyala and has already reinforced the area around Baqouba - the centre of the heaviest fighting - with additional troops. ... Mixon, who was speaking in Tikrit, said: 'I'm going to need additional forces, to get that situation to a more acceptable level, so the Iraqi security forces will be able in the future to handle that.'

Look for Gen. Mixon to be retiring in the next month or so.