POLITICIZING THE MILITARY

That's what the Bush regime has done for years. I pointed out below that Gen. Myers was no better than a radio gasbag and Thomas Ricks let's us know (pp. 66-67) that the Joint Staff was no better. In mid-October 2002, the Staff drafted a "Strategic Guidance for Combatant Commanders" and sent it to the planning officers on the staffs of the senior commanders worldwide. In it, it described the coming was with Iraq as part of the war on terror. Many thought this was a mistake. Ricks reports that 4 staffers asked " How the hell did a war on Iraq become part of the war on terrorism?" One reply to the draft stated "There's no link between Saddam and 9/11. Don't mix the two."

Nonetheless, the order went out near the end of 2002 with the full blessing of Lt. Gen. George Casey, the chief of strategic plans and policy on the Staff.

Ricks claims that only one flag officer - Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold - resigned over the coming war.