McCain blasts Gen. Casey over Iraq results; Questions qualifications for Chief of Staff »
Posted By TechnologyExpert 1 year, 8 months ago in NewsSen. John McCain, R-Ariz., criticized Gen. George Casey for what he called misjudgments about the prospects for progress toward stabilizing Iraq during his tenure in Baghdad. McCain said he has "strong reservations" about Bush's nomination of Casey to become the next Army chief of staff.
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Comments So Far: 112
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mark-stevens1 year, 8 months ago
I resonded to a comment by GodsServent that the Vietnam war was to protect our freedom. I resonded that the Vietnam war wasted 50,000 young lives, and that at nineteen,and stupid I voluntered for Vietnam twice. I also stated, that those who preach war should participate. Here is their response and why America is in its current state.
For your information if it's any of you stinky business . In which it isn' I was born deaf and couldnot fight.So before you go around calling people stupid you better know who your talking to stupid.And it does not matter about what you think you know.Countries are looking for power and if you don't start somewhere other countries take over .Ever play that game Risk.That is how the world works.And if you don't do something sooner or later they'll be over here killing us in our own country.So go crawl back under that rock you crawled out of.Do not and I repeat do not addressme in that matter ever again.
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progressive-bum1 year, 8 months ago
ROTFLMAO...the rant sounds more like it came from a three-year-old. How can you argue with such a mindset? Reason and logic appear to be non-existent.
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flyrod1 year, 8 months ago
Excuse me, but speaking for us ugly Americans I would respect Mr. McCains views on this subject. I would hardly call him a warmonger. I can't think of many people that would probably hate war more than this gentleman. However, he does understand that we have a nasty, dirty job ahead of us.
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thefinalsay1 year, 8 months ago
I agree, people voicing their opinions is always welcome by me. and yes, we do have a hard war to fight, but, no-one else anticipated this and did anything about it.
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voteissues1 year, 8 months ago
Well good. Then he can send his kids, relatives and friends over to fight a meaningless war. If you think that conflict is going to change anything you are sadly mistaken. Do you think this admin and congress really care anything about the soldiers there? Their sitting around on the holidays saying Honey, pass the cranberries and How did the market do today?, while our kids are there fighting for their life. Bush is an idiot that doesn't even realize other governments in the world are laughing their ass off at him, both to his face and behind his back. He cliaims to do this in the name of Democracy. When he himself said he doesn't care what congress or the people say about it. Yea...A real supporter of Democracy there.
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KiOc1 year, 8 months ago
"Well good. Then he can send his kids, relatives and friends over to fight a meaningless war."
Do you even know anything about McCain? He comes from a military family, I think he is about the last politician you have to worry about not caring for the soldiers.
That being said, he can't force any of his sons to go to war, this is a voluntary military now. Of his two biological sons, one enlisted in the Marines last year, and the other is attending the US Naval Academy.
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beachboy60001 year, 8 months ago
kserkhar, you comment is disgusting. This man knows the reality of war. Who paid the price of your freedom? Another war monger perhaps?
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IcCaRus1 year, 8 months ago
if you read my posts you know im a liberal... but, i WAS a big McCain fan... was even happy that Kerrys first choice for VP was John McCain.
however, since then, my opinion of McCain has changed greatly. there was a time when i would have considered crossing over to vote for him, but no more.... he has lost me, and is losing all the moderates he once counted as supporters
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Watchemoket1 year, 8 months ago
It appears to me that Gen. Casey's assessment of necessary force levels seems to depend on the audience. "Casey told the bipartisan Iraq Study Group more troops in Iraq were not needed, according to members of the independent panel."
Later, "He said he asked for just two extra Army brigades for the Baghdad area - less than half the number of extra troops that Bush has ordered to enter the capital in coming months. Casey said his subordinate commanders had told him two brigades would be enough to do the job."
Then again, "Asked his view of Bush's new strategy, Casey said, "I believe it can work.""
I suppose as Army Chief of Staff, that is just the kind of judgment this President likes - "tell me what I think."
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Searchbeam1 year, 8 months ago
What Casey said is pandering - just to get the job he always wanted, to hell with the truth!
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HOWMABLEGOTHERSABLE1 year, 8 months ago
How the GOP loved Casey as he mouthed the Party line. Now He gets thrown under the bus. Please take note Mr. Petreaus.
BTW, If Romney wins will we all have to wear "The Garment".
It's the Morman BURKA.
God Bless
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rachmanpianoplayer1 year, 8 months ago
Want to win???? First we rid ourselves of all the Liberals!!! Then kick the media out of Iraq and have at it. The enemy will not give up until they see their cause as hopeless. The Libs and Dems give them hope. The Islamics have to realize they are going to lose and be obliterated, Islam will fail instead of advance in the World, and there are no virgins on the other side.
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decipher1 year, 8 months ago
good comment "rid ourselves of all liberals" = kill all americans who don't think like i do... what a beautiful free society you will have.
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flyrod1 year, 8 months ago
rachmanpianoplayer, you need to take a pill and chill. Islam has been around a long time. Longer than Christianity. I don't see them drying up and blowing away any time soon. In your kind of world maybe the Libs and Dems would take a vote and get rid of people like you. Think about it......
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lovermanComment removed: User banned.
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bubba21 year, 8 months ago
WHAT 'enemy'?
The Iraqis are fighting EACH OTHER! Americans get killed because they are caught in the CROSSFIRE and are trying to quell the violence.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/artic
There is NO one in Iraq that "we" are fighting! There were NEVER any "Al Qaeda" terrorists there before we invaded, and there are only a small number there now helping some of the LOCAL insurgencies. By the way, The SAUDIS are helping the Sunni insurgents -- apparently Bush thinks that is ok.
We are NOT fighting "islam". We are SUPPOSED to be fighting 'terrorists', but there are NONE in Iraq.
Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are in AFGHANISTAN. THEY are the ones that perpetrated 9/11.
If we are going to "fight terrorists", we should at least be in the RIGHT country. Iraq is the WRONG place.
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royal-m1 year, 8 months ago
I have always been against this war and how it was conducted, but I have to wonder how much if this is Casey's fault. It seems more likely he made the best of what was given to him In this country the civillian government runs the military not vice versa and it is the civillian government who bears the ultimate responsibility for the Iraq mess. I think the Bushies were given a series of options and chose the ones they liked, the one that was politically expedient not the one they thought would work, if they thought at all
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BravoSierra1 year, 8 months ago
He should have refused orders.
An Officer's duty to refuse orders increases with his rank. Privates learn to follow orders and procedures. Officers are trained on procedures and doctrine extensively not to follow them blindly or do the best they can with what they are given. Officers are trained so extensively so they can recognize when to violate doctrine, change procedures on the fly and refuse orders.
The higher your rank, the greater your moral obligation to those below you. The higher one's rank, the more willing one must be to stand up against bad doctrine, bad planning, incompetent orders and illegal orders.
I'm sad that more General Officers didn't refuse orders until the planning (both military and civil G-5 functions) was better done. I've watched General Officers of great character tell Congress, the State Department and their Boss to go to hell at great risk to their careers. I wish we'd have seen more of this in the case of Iraq.
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BravoSierra1 year, 8 months ago
The reason more General Officers don't raise a stink is, however, that Congress approves all promotions to Major General or above. By the time they've screen all the papers a candidate has written at the War College and such to make sure he/she is politically correct many of the real gunfighters have been passed over. For example, if the 'politically correct' thing to be saying is that we need to approach some little country diplomatically and the General wrote a policy paper as a Lt. Col. as part of his Master's Degree in policy and strategy said we ought to invade that little country, he might be passed over, especially if he continued to publish papers in military journals or policy papers to Congress that were not politically correct.
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Searchbeam1 year, 8 months ago
Very good point, Royal M.
Actually, it is Cheney's war, disguised as Bush's war! Cheney does not have the guts to admit that he is a failed leader.
Gen. Casey is a soldier. When a soldier joins the armed forces, he takes an oath to obey the commands of his superior, in this case his CinC.
I would not blame the soldier or the General. They did their job; I would definitely blame the Commander-in-Chief who messed up this war.
As far as McCain is concerned, I had a respect for him for a long time. He lost it when he started political pandering and changing his positions like a weather-vane.
Peace and Blessings!
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NelsonR1 year, 8 months ago
The DECISIONS of the Bush adminstration are the reason blame is now in progress. The Decider is responsible and should take full responsibility for a war that never should have been waged.
Again, George's father knew the consequences of overthrowing Saddam and the ensueing sectarian strife with Iran coming out the winner. King George is responsible for his arrogance and unnecessary American deaths as in Vietnam.
The military functions at the whim of the White House. Do you really think Casey would have led within Iraq if he exsposed his own view points? That's why the change in military leadership, acquiescence is sublime.
This war was lost the first day we entered. The longer our forces are exsposed to this civil war, more American deaths will prevail. Where are our elected representative?
John McCain is still deluded. No matter how many troops you should have, could have, inserted into Iraq, its not a winnable civil war. His hawkish viewpoint is outdated.
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AmpLee1 year, 8 months ago
(( This war was lost the first day we entered))
This is an untrue statement, as far as I can see. Invading Iraq was a horrendous idea, but the US war machine cut through Iraq like a knife thru warm butter, driving their ruler into a hole in the ground.
What happened was we hung around with no clear plan to secure the country, and mismanaged the post war festivities.
The war there is over. It's done. It's an occupation, and we can't bring peace there and stop the factions from killing one another.
The big question: how due you stop revenge-filled zealots from killing each other, short of killing them yourself?
Answer: you don't.
I am not over there, but I believe the high Iraqi death count post invasion as compared to the low US death count since then indicates the US is in a peace keeping situation, not a war. If the Iraqis were consistently targeting american forces, wouldn't the death toll be higher than 3,000 for 4 years?
PS: 3,000 is high enough.
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decipher1 year, 8 months ago
kserkhar
we say the pot calls the kettle black because a pot and a kettle are essentially the same thing making the statement twice as ridiculous.
and i'm not sure, but i think you mean the revolutionary war
where the heck are you from?
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Tyron1 year, 8 months ago
The civil war? You better go back about 100 years and try again; or try a history course.
By the way, when should this country wage war?
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Watchemoket1 year, 8 months ago
Hmm.. how about WW2? I think that the original "Axis of Evil" was at least a minor threat to our country.
As for our civil war, it didn't 'bring' freedom to us, but it did have a hand in preserving our freedoms (unless you're a States' Rights advocate, in which case the civil war cost us freedoms).
There are also a lot of other wars you didn't list ... the War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Seminole War, Spanish-American War and WW1 to name just a few. All of them had some supposedly laudable 'cause' to justify them, but most were wars of greed in one way or another. Protecting or preserving 'our freedom' has seldom been an actual goal of our military activities.
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NelsonR1 year, 8 months ago
kserkhar - I think the conservative republican hawks will take exception to your post.
How will our corporate prosperity continue without these past and future wars? America without wars will be unable to force our more elitist moral values on other nations to the detriment of our conservative hawks. They need wars to lend credence to their existence and moral authority.
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decipher1 year, 8 months ago
that's a good question... we claim to want to spread democracy. instead we blindly follow a corrupt administration which has brought further chaos to an already volitle part of our world ... i think actually that we posses no morality to begin with so how could we force it on someone else?
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Helixbuilder1 year, 8 months ago
You know this is too little to late. Where was this criticism last year or the year before?
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fishoutofwater1 year, 8 months ago
All nation states act in their own best interest -- or what they perceive to be their best interest. All wars are "essential" in the eyes of the nation's elite decision makers -- many of whom are unelected.
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NelsonR1 year, 8 months ago
Helixbuilder, I'm not president and I concluded 4 years ago like so many others that a repeat of history would occur.
Civil wars are unlike your normal fist fights.
Decipher - Thank you since you answered the question tyron asked. Saves me time to respond.
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ElTigre1 year, 8 months ago
I blame Casey for not having the courage to admit to the administration and the country that the situation was worsening. This smells like Vietnam. "We are winning" they kept telling us. Of course McNamara has said he was misinformed by MACV. Casey should have known better than to listen to any intell besides his own.
Can't you guys address the issues instead of the same old tired left/right diatribes? People are dieing ya know!
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youpeopledrivemenuts1 year, 8 months ago
All this dicussion is beside the point. No one here is in any position to change anything. The one thing that can be changed is the ****** poor attitudes about America that exist within.
Everyone acts in their own best interest, thats human nature,
countries are no different. Saddam was acting guilty as hell and deserved what he got. Now we broke that place and we own it, have to fix it. It's too late to back out now and leave all the iraquis that worked with us hangin like we did to the vietnamese in the 70's. ****** the french, germans,etc,etc. Don't care what they think about us.
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ElTigre1 year, 8 months ago
I agree we can't just leave. We are in a position to do something. We can demand that they get thier act together and disengage. Which in my mind means we fix it first then we leave. It is our duty to the service men and women. They are counting on us to keep them from staying even one day longer than is needed. Vietnam war was kept going longer than needed for many reasons. One of those reasons might have been so that industrialist could make more loot. Let us be on gaurd for that. Fool me once...
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NelsonR1 year, 8 months ago
Yes, you can blame Casey but he is part of the establishment. Can you really believe that our military is a separate entity within itself? The military is controlled by the agenda of the current administrations. Bush, McCain and other leaders are now hoodwinking America by passing the buck.
I'm no fan of Casey but he resides in a world of politics.
Remember McCarthur, he did not subvert his convictions and Truman fired him. Actually, I hate that analogy since in my opinion McCarthur was a pompous general, egotistical to the extreme.
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evilliberals1 year, 8 months ago
McCain is a Bush flunkie, playing politics. America wants out. of Iraq, the people have spoken.
Republicans
that is your candidate
hahahahaahahaahahahaaha
cant wait till 2008
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