Screwing the Pooch

Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez blamed the administration for a “catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan” and denounced the current “surge” strategy as a “desperate” move that will not achieve long-term stability.

So one of the people seriously involved in screwing the pooch in Iraq is now blaming his bosses for it.

While there may be something to General Sanchez's critique, he is not one who is in a position to make it. If things were so seriously fucked up, he had the option of telling the Chimperor that (after all, Chimpy does say he "listens to his commanders") and, if Der Monkey Fuhrer didn't like it, taking off his stars. Waiting until one is, in essence, shitcanned and then speaking out smacks of cowardice and/or rampant careerism.

For the love of [insert name of invisible deity here], the generals ask soldiers every day to go out and risk their lives to get the job done. If things are well and truly fucked, you'd think the very least that should be expected of the generals is that they risk their jobs.

But no. "Star-wearing sycophant" seems to be a bit of a redundancy in modern times. These generals have become the exact kind of senior officers that they probably despised when they were lieutenants and captains.