Disturbing reports from military consultant Joe Galloway

[AgPete]

Don't know if you're familiar with Galloway but he's the guy that wrote the book "We Were Soldiers" which was made into that recent movie with Mel Gibson. Take these reports however you want but this is what Schwarzkopf said about Joe Galloway in his bio: "The finest combat correspondent of our generation — a soldier's reporter and a soldier's friend."

Galloway's Bio (http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/galloway/5117498.htm)


First disturbing report. The military did not plan on Iraq using guerrilla tactics! :eek: Excuse me?! I'm by no means a military strategist but I thought this was obvious. I remember a 60 Minutes report with one of Saddam Hussein's top ex-generals who is now a defector who warned America that his connections told him about Hussein's plans to conduct this type of war. I thought it was obvious that Hussein had learned from the mistakes he made in the first Persian Gulf War and our soldiers faced a smarter opponent this time. This is the ONLY way Iraq can fight and stand a chance against us, I don't see how it could have been ignored in the planning stages.

U.S. did not plan on Iraqi forces' use of guerrilla tactics (http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/galloway/5489175.htm)


Second disturbing report. For all those that knew this war would last at least several months, you may be smarter than our nation's Secretary of Defense. According to this report, Rumsfeld expected Iraq to fold in two days! :eek: I guess it depends on how much you believe the author's sources but it confirms the rumors that Rumsfeld has taken control of this war and ignored practical advice from the military and intelligence.

Rumsfeld's strategy under fire as war risks become increasingly apparent (http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/galloway/5472430.htm)


Third disturbing report. I've been worried before the war began because the Neo-Reaganites (Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, et al.) eerily reminded me of McNamara and the rest of the weasels that killed our boys in Vietnam. I thought this was a good article by Galloway. This is the first time I've seen estimates on what it would take to enact our preemptive strike policy. I don't see how we can do it.


Politicians underestimate Iraq force (http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/galloway/5361364.htm)


I just hope if this war turns out bad, Colin Powell doesn't take the fall with the warhawks that had Dubya's ear. I can't believe Dubya ignored the advice of a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in favor of the career civilian politician warhawks.

[JeeberD]

Wow, and I thought that Joey Galloway was just an underachieving wide reciever... ;)

[AgPete]

LOL Jeeber! :D

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just for clarification, Galloway was co-author of We Were Soldiers, along with Lt. Gen. (ret) Hal G. Moore.

Not a big deal, just wanted Col. Moore to get his due props too :)

[sachmo71]

The doomsayers will now pipe up, but I'm thinking that the military still has things well in hand. At least I have to think that so I can sleep at night.

[JPhillips]

Sachmo: I'm not a doomsayer as I still think we will win with relatively few casualties, but I think its clear that we badly misjudged how this was going to play out. We were so convinced that we would win easily with joyous celebrations in the street that we didn't adequately prepare for real resistance. We don't have near enough troops to take Baghdad, and for that I blame the civilians who are running this war.

[Craptacular]

Remember that the key civilians you are referring to (Bush, Rumsfeld) did serve in the military. I know the point you're trying to make, but sometimes you guys make it sound like they know nothing about the military.

[kcchief19]

Absolutely brilliant observations and sources from a qualified reporter. This is exactly what the "smart" money predicted at the beginning of this thing. This is the line I find the most disturbing:

Because the Pentagon didn't commit overwhelming force, "now we have three divisions strung out over 300-plus miles and the follow-on division, our reserve, is probably three weeks away from landing."

Despite politician arguments to the contrary, there doesn't appear to be much chance that we will get into Baghdad without the 4th Infantry. What bothers me is that we already knew this from experience. Once again, I point to the Powell Doctrine -- you do not strike until the pieces are in place and you strike with overwhelming force. If Powell were running this thing, I would have whole-heartedly supported military action a long time ago. I don't trust Rumsfeld. He botched the job in Afghanistan and he might do it again in Iraq.

It just pisses me off that we are going to have people die who didn't need to die if they had better leadership.