General Batiste
Bush makes a big deal about listening to the generals on the ground, unless the generals give him advice that goes against his inclination to stubbornly ignore Congress and the will of the people.
Retired General John Batiste, who commanded troops in Iraq, has appeared in a series of scathing ads sponsored by VoteVets.org, that target specific politicians. The veterans group is alarmed at the effect Bush’s decisions are having on the military they love. In the ad, Batiste says: “Mr. President, you did not listen. You continue to pursue a failed strategy that is breaking our great Army and Marine Corps. I left the Army in protest in order to speak out. Mr. President, you have placed our nation in peril. Our only hope is that Congress will act now to protect our fighting men and women. Senator McCain, protect America, not George Bush.”
General Batiste describes himself as a diehard Republican, but resigned from the Army in order to speak out. He insists that our only hope is that Congress will act to protect our fighting men and women.
There has never been so much public friction between the military and the civilian leaders. Batiste insists: “I‘m a patriot, as are the rest of us in Vote Vets. We are not an antiwar organization. We’re focused on what’s best for this country. We’re focused on being successful and winning the effort against global terrorism.”
Last year Batiste said, “You either salute and execute, or you make a decision to retire or resign, that’s the way it is.” He’s no longer wearing the uniform and has no ties to the defense industry. He believes that he has a duty to speak out honestly:
“This is less about deadlines and timelines than it is about coming to grips with the fact that we went to war with a fatally flawed strategy, flawed in March of 2003 and still flawed more than four years later. This is all about Bush relying solely on the military component of strategy to accomplish the mission in Iraq.
“We’re missing the diplomatic, political, and economic components that are required to be successful. The interagency process has been dysfunctional during this administration. There’s no unity of effort between the agencies.
“The bottom line is a failed strategy and our president has not mobilized this great nation to accomplish the critical work to defeat global terrorism. Until we get these two things right, we’re wasting our time. Bush’s strategy relies almost wholly on the military, and ignores the important diplomatic, political, and economic components. We’re going to break our Army and Marine Corps and at this point that’s the last thing we want to do.”
Retired General John Batiste, who commanded troops in Iraq, has appeared in a series of scathing ads sponsored by VoteVets.org, that target specific politicians. The veterans group is alarmed at the effect Bush’s decisions are having on the military they love. In the ad, Batiste says: “Mr. President, you did not listen. You continue to pursue a failed strategy that is breaking our great Army and Marine Corps. I left the Army in protest in order to speak out. Mr. President, you have placed our nation in peril. Our only hope is that Congress will act now to protect our fighting men and women. Senator McCain, protect America, not George Bush.”
General Batiste describes himself as a diehard Republican, but resigned from the Army in order to speak out. He insists that our only hope is that Congress will act to protect our fighting men and women.
There has never been so much public friction between the military and the civilian leaders. Batiste insists: “I‘m a patriot, as are the rest of us in Vote Vets. We are not an antiwar organization. We’re focused on what’s best for this country. We’re focused on being successful and winning the effort against global terrorism.”
Last year Batiste said, “You either salute and execute, or you make a decision to retire or resign, that’s the way it is.” He’s no longer wearing the uniform and has no ties to the defense industry. He believes that he has a duty to speak out honestly:
“This is less about deadlines and timelines than it is about coming to grips with the fact that we went to war with a fatally flawed strategy, flawed in March of 2003 and still flawed more than four years later. This is all about Bush relying solely on the military component of strategy to accomplish the mission in Iraq.
“We’re missing the diplomatic, political, and economic components that are required to be successful. The interagency process has been dysfunctional during this administration. There’s no unity of effort between the agencies.
“The bottom line is a failed strategy and our president has not mobilized this great nation to accomplish the critical work to defeat global terrorism. Until we get these two things right, we’re wasting our time. Bush’s strategy relies almost wholly on the military, and ignores the important diplomatic, political, and economic components. We’re going to break our Army and Marine Corps and at this point that’s the last thing we want to do.”
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