Military Fragging Bush & Co.

Before the invasion of Iraq there was a handful of retired officers like one-time Centcom (Middle-East) commander General Anthony Zinni who spoke out against it. (And afterwards reflected on the "lying, incompetence, and corruption" he witnessed in the prelude to the war.) After Representative John Murtha -- who never met a military budget he didn't like -- spoke out in favor of withdrawing the troops from Iraq, even more military men came out of the woodwork to launch verbal attacks on Bush & Co.

In the recent edition of Time magazine quoted in The New York Times, retired three-star Marine Corps General Gregory Newbold writes that the decision to invade Iraq. . .

". . . was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions. . ."

"I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat -- Al Qaeda."

"The officer corps is willing to sacrifice their lives for their country, but not their careers."

"[Iraq's an] utter debacle."

"I think Bush may well have started the third world war, all for [the administration’s] personal policies."

"The only reason anyone tortures is because they like to do it."

". . . the American public. . . voted for a second Bush administration out of fear, so fear is what they're going to have from now on."

"We're seeing this current house of cards start to flutter away."

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