Powell wanted more troops in Iraq
In a development that can only increase pressure on Donald Rumsfeld to resign, Colin Powell has stated that before the Iraq war he argued for a larger military presence in Iraq to deal with the aftermath of the war and to help to establish order.
"I don't think we had enough force there to impose order," he said on ITV's Jonathan Dimbleby program.
"The aftermath turned out to be much more difficult than anyone had anticipated," said Powell, adding he had favored a larger military presence to deal with the unforeseen.
"I made the case to General (Tommy) Franks, to (Defense) Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld and to the president that I was not sure we had enough troops," Powell said. But he said the military leaders felt they had the appropriate number.
Condaleeza Rice, the supposed "intellectual" who has never articulated an original thought in her life, claimed not to remember specifically what Powell was referring to. As usual though, she could be relied upon to trumpet the official party line.
Rice added that there would have been "potentially a lot of problems with a very, very big footprint of coalition forces at the time of the liberation of Iraq."
Yeah, cos they managed to avoid problems with a smaller force. Is she on smack?
She is actually the best illustration of this administrations total detachment from reality. They seem to believe they can make things true simply by stating them to be so.
Any sane, rational, person can see that one of the most important things the occupying force was required to provide the people of Iraq was order. The failure to provide order has provided the framework in which the insurgency has thrived.
And that failure was caused by a lack of boots on the ground.
It was Rumsfeld who argued that a smaller army was the way forward, and he did so against a wall of military opposition.
He has been proven wrong. But more important than this, he appears to have no plan for ending the carnage that is currently taking place in Iraq other than to insist on more of the same.
He is out of his depth, and unable to admit any of his shortcomings.
He should be fired.
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