Iraq War: Overrun at Credibility Gap

"I think we are winning.  Okay?  I think we're definitely winning.  I think we've been winning for some time." - Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the Iraq War 04/26/05

"I just wonder if they will ever tell us the truth." - Harold Casey, Louisville, KY, October 2004.

The current US commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey, Jr., said of Iraq on Wednesday:

This is not a country that is awash in sectarian violence.  The situation's hard, but it's not a country that's awash in sectarian violence.

Larry Johnson comments on this in The Shame of General Casey No Quarter blog 10/24/06.

This kind of rah-rah bull**** from a ground commander is criminal.  Unfortunately, he is gladly carrying water for a Commander-in-Chief who insists we must stay the course but denies saying that we must stay the course.  I guess Casey believes he must behave like President Bush and endorse deception, delusion, and lies.  But in making this Faustian bargain, Casey seems oblivious to the price being paid in blood by our men and women serving in Iraq.  This may explain in part why some U.S. soldiers and Marines are petitioning their members of Congress to end the war in Iraq.

Again, for a reality check, see  Is There a "Civil War" in Iraq? by Anthony Cordesman 10/16/06.

I actually have somewhat mixed feelings about situations like this.  The idea of encouraging generals to overtly disagree with the  position of the civilian government on a key foreign policy matter is not something that I'm thrilled about.

But telling whoppers like this isn't good, either.  It certainly has the practical effect of diminishing the credibility of the generals and others who act as spokespeople for the military.  They'll whine about it.  But this is something that, to a large degree, our infallible generals have brought onto themselves.  The lies by civilian officials contributed to it, at least in creating an atmosphere of deception on their side and justified distrust on the public's side.  But when the generals go out and talk trash like this, it can't help but undercut their credibility.  And they really can't blame the civilians authorities for that part of it.

"Wars are easy to get into, but hard as hell to get out of." - George McGovern and Jim McGovern 06/06/05