WP, Froomkin, How Bush Uses His Generals: Political cover, then knife in back when no longer of use

[DeepModem Mom]

How Bush Uses His Generals
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, July 16, 2007

President Bush says that he should be trusted on military issues because he listens to his commanders. But he has a tendency to celebrate his generals when they're providing him political cover -- then stick a knife in their backs when they're no longer of any use to him.

Last week, Bush rejected any blame for the chaos that ensued in Iraq after the March 2003 invasion. So whose fault was it? Bush pointed the finger at Gen. Tommy Franks, the Central Command chief at the time. "My primary question to General Franks was, do you have what it takes to succeed? And do you have what it takes to succeed after you succeed in removing Saddam Hussein? And his answer was, yes," Bush said.

That's the same Tommy Franks to whom Bush awarded a Medal of Freedom in 2004.

And when virtually all of Bush's military line of command, including the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, opposed his "surge" proposal late last year, Bush responded not by listening, but by removing the top two commanders responsible for Iraq and replacing them with more amenable leaders, including Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus....Now Petraeus is Bush's "main man." Maybe he should be watching his back....

***

"When Bush and his aides shift military strategy, they seem to turn on the generals on whom they once relied publicly, said Lawrence Korb, a former Pentagon official. During the run-up to the war, when Gen. Eric Shinseki, the former Army chief of staff, told Congress that more troops were needed to secure Iraq, he was publicly rebuked by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz.

"More recently, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Petraeus's predecessor, was blamed for not doing more to improve security for Iraqi civilians, and Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was effectively fired last month by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

"'This is an administration that wants to blame the generals,' Korb said."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/07/16/BL2007071600891.html?nav=hcmodule

[babylonsister]

1. What a precious little title! Jeeze! It's getting bad out there! nt

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. Bush is ultimately responsible, the Commander in Chief!

he shouldn't blame everyone else for his mistakes

[kurth]

3. The Slimy Corporate CEO President

with zero ethics.