A QUESTION ANSWERED 36 YEARS LATER

In 1971 a young John Kerry , fresh from Vietnam, testified before Congress and said this:
''How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

Last week Senator Kerry announced that he would not be a candidate for President in 2008.

John Kerry lost the race for presidency in what was to him, and his advisors, a stunning defeat. As election day proceeded, buoyed by final polls and early exit polls, Kerry’s advisors started calling him “Mr. President.” Then Bush won Ohio, and that, as they say, was that.

Over 3,000 Americans have died in Iraq, and over 45,000 have been wounded. Today the situation is worse than the day after the war began. If you read Bob Woodward’s latest book, State Of Denial, you know that the responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders on former Secretary of Defense John McNamara, …I mean Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld thought he was smarter than the military; he surrounded himself with a group of generals he could cower and browbeat, and he dismissed those professionals who said it would take 600-700 thousand troops in Iraq once Baghdad fell.

When people criticize the Bush administration, they tend to focus on the illusory weapons of mass destruction. While there is significant testimony and proof to suggest that professional intelligence officers were telling the White House that there was no proof Hussein had WMD’s, the bigger crime, the larger mistake , was in the way Rumsfeld bullied the White House and the military.

From Collin Powell and Dick Armitage, to General Tommy Franks, to Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General John Shalikashvili, the professionals told Rumsfeld and Bush that not nearly enough troops were committed or available to secure Iraq after the war.

Former President George Herbert Walker Bush’s decision not to invade Iraq looks, in retrospect, a wise decision. Then again, wise decisions are made when responsible individuals who have a lifetime of experience are in the position to make decisions. Responsible decisions are made when there is not one egotistical man bullying everyone around him.

Mistakes are made when rank amateurs who believe their ability to appear pious and religious is more important than silly things like experience, intelligence, and professionalism.

President Bush wants to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq. His generals, HIS GENERALS - told him in December they need about 7,000 more troops. Once again, the professionals are being ignored.


36 years after John Kerry asked

''How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

President Bush apparently has the answer.


First Person Post Script:

I lived through the Vietnam war and it’s aftermath, albeit at a much younger age. I came of age with a generation that studied Vietnam and the failures of the military and political leaders. Military thinkers and civilian theorists have written countless books and papers analyzing and dissecting the failures of Vietnam. Slowly our country emerged from the Vietnam hangover on the national consciousness. One could say President Regan was responsible for the beginning of the responsible and effective use of American Military power post Vietnam.

Then we had the first Gulf War and the Powell/Bush Doctrine: American military power should be used in specific situations where the U.S and an international collation can apply overwhelming force with specific goals identified, and reasonably obtainable. The Powell/Bush doctrine worked. The United States threw Iraq out of Kuwait in less than 100 hours of ground military action and less than 100 coalition deaths. Our standing in the world had reached a new zenith.

Then in less than 15 years a bunch of egotistical fools ruined it all. What I find amazing, in a twi-light zone sort of way, is that we are back to 1971. With the lesson of Vietnam clearly learned (so we thought), we are now back to arguing about the effects of a total withdrawal in the face of defeat, paralyzed by inaction, while Americans die. For a mistake.

Maybe that’s what happens when we have a President, Vice President, and Secretary of Defense, who all avoided military service in their youth.

Perhaps character in youth counts for something after all.

"How do you ask a man (or woman) to be the last to die for a mistake?"

I don't know. But I do know you never get into that position unless you make a series of mistakes to begin with.

The tragedy of Iraq is that we knew better. And the professionals who knew better were ignored .