Maj. Gen. Jerald Albrecht (ret) and Coleen Rowley: Bush failing troops

[Minnesota_Lib]

Bush keeps failing his troops in Iraq

The administration put service members in harm's way despite a puny threat, then cut and run from its responsibilities to them.

Jerald Albrecht and Coleen Rowley

Published: September 14, 2006

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Bush first failed the troops when he put them in harm's way despite knowing that the threat from Iraq was practically nonexistent. He then failed to provide them with the tools to succeed: no plan to secure the peace, insufficient body armor, questionable support from Dick Cheney's Halliburton cronies and one-third the number of troops necessary to get the job done. But most shameful of all has been the willingness of Bush and the GOP leadership to use our troops as a tool for political gain.

<snip>

To Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and other supporters of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, any action other than "staying the course" is defeatism or appeasement. But it is the war supporters who have surrendered our military might and treasure to the failed neocon notion of world domination through unilateral strength of arms.

<snip>

And when veterans return from Iraq, they learn the harsh reality of how their government has cut and run from its responsibilities to them. They return to fewer health care benefits, pitiful job prospects -- except possibly as private military contractors for more duty in Iraq -- and shattered lives and families.

<snip>

Hundreds of thousands of our soldiers went to Iraq because of their belief in "Duty, honor, country," and almost 2,700 have given their lives for it. To demand that they remain on an increasingly chaotic and deadly course to serve the political ends of the GOP is a shabby way to honor their sacrifice.
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Jerald Albrecht, Prior Lake, is a retired major general of the Army Reserve. Former FBI agent Coleen Rowley, Apple Valley, was one of Time Magazine's Persons of the Year (2002), hero in the War on terrorism and currently the Democratic candidate for Congress in Minnesota's Second District.

Full article: http://www.startribune.com/562/story/675247.html

[babylonsister]

1. Great points all. Nom. nt

[Uncle Joe]

2. Excellent column

Thanks for posting Minnesota_Lib.

Kicked and recommended



:kick:

[Octafish]

3. Coleen Rowley for Congress.

I hope she wins and goes on to become President of the United States -- first or othewise. Ms. Rowley is a real American hero, a woman of integrity, who put her country ahead of her career.

Thanks for the heads-up on her column, Minnesota_Lib.