A General’s Judgment
Thursday’s Rochester Democrat & Chronicle gives Major General John Batiste [USA ret] another sounding board for his ranting obsession with Don Rumsfeld’s resignation.
In his 700 plus word tirade on the op-ed page, the General fails to include one fact to support his arguments. He does, however, tell us that his father served in World War II. Whatever the hell that is supposed to mean.
I’ve blogged about the general before. As a rule, I have a rather low opinion of general officers of any service. I abhor the ass kissing that takes place and the political rather than military prowess that is too often required. That said, I will take as fact that Batiste is a Patton, Napoleon and Caesar combined in one man. Dedication to military service and battlefield heroics do not ensure that any general including this one has good judgment.
John Batiste is one of a couple of dozen people with a great deal of responsibility for the planning of the Liberation of Iraq and for the combat thereafter. His obsession with blaming Don Rumsfeld for the problems he sees is the pot calling the kettle black.
Batiste was Paul Wolfowitz’s senior military aide when Wolfowitz was planning the war. He had to be in on the planning, the discussions, the setting of the ROE’s, etc.
He knows quite well that Wolfowitz has admitted since early after the fall of Baghdad that the total collapse of the Iraqi army and police was unexpected and was not planned for. Wolfowitz has called that the biggest mistake in planning.
Batiste has said from the beginning that we should not have disbanded the Iraqi army and police. When Paul Bremer did so, the general seems to forget, there wasn’t an intact military formation anywhere in the country and most of the police had also deserted. Why? They were the forces of the thugocracy, the mailed fist of the criminals who ruled Iraq until the Liberation. They ran, like the petty criminals that they were.
But Batiste thinks they should have been kept in place. Just like we did with the German army and the Japanese army and… oh, wait. Why would we want to use the forces of the oppressor to administer Iraq? That’s just a stupid suggestion.
Batiste commanded the 1st Infantry for a time after the Liberation. His current litany of problems should have been apparent then. Or not.
Tell us, General. How many times did your command refuse to provide you with troops that you requested? How did your command dictate to you the tactics that your soldiers would use? What happened to the hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid that you had available to distribute? Did soldiers under your command die because of actions taken by those above you, and if so, what were they?
Come on, General. How about the facts? Tell us the specifics of how the commander of one of the premier, first tier Army divisions was thwarted by his command structure from administering his region and fighting his command in the manner it should have been?
And, General Batiste, tell us why you have no personal responsibility for your actions in the Pentagon or as commanding general of the 1st ID? From where I sit, General, it seems like you ought to see the chaplain to get your ticket punched.
Maj. Gen. John Batiste June 14, 2006
Thank you to John for H&I Fires this date
