Yesterday's Meet the Press interview with General Tony Zinni, former commander in charge of U.S. Central Command, was a stunner. I almost can't believe he said all this stuff. Basically, what Zinni did yesterday was - as "Cantinflas" writes on Daily Kos - "a point by point demolishing of the Bush positions and lies on the war. He is the Administration's worst nightmare."Just a note here, before I get into Zinni's main points: my understanding is that Jim Webb and Tony Zinni are very friendly with each other, see things eye-to-eye on Iraq, and are highly simpatico in general. Now that I've mentioned that, here's what General Zinni had to say on Meet the Press.
First, on the Bush Administration's planning for war in Iraq:
I think we are paying the price for the lack of credible planning, or the lack of a plan. We?re throwing away 10 years worth of planning, in effect, for underestimating the situation we were going to get into, for not adhering to the advice that was being given to us by others, and, I think, getting distracted from Afghanistan and the war on terrorism that we were committed to when we took on this adventure.[...]
...the problem is that we?ve wasted three years here. They may go, in the worst case, through a period that looks something like Lebanon did in the ?80s. And it may take them a while?five, 10 years of this kind of violence and destructive behavior, sectarian violence that they perpetrate on each other, for them to get out of this. And I think we lost ground when we had an opportunity in the beginning to freeze this situation and gain control, and we let all these snakes come out.
Wonderful. So much for Bush and the Republicans being strong on national security. What a joke.
Second, on whether Iraq=Vietnam, Zinni had this to say:
...the remarkable similarities to Vietnam is I saw in places in Vietnam where we were making a difference in the villages, where we had programs that innovative commanders were exercising, where there were troops that were dedicated to changing the lives of the Vietnamese. Meanwhile, back in Saigon, we had the revolving generals, coup after coup, while we sat there and watched, and this wasn?t the kind of government that the people felt they could risk their lives for.
Gee, wasn't it the Bush Administration that slammed Howard Dean, as recently as December 2005, for suggesting that Iraq was like Vietnam and that "[t]he idea that the United States is going to win the war in Iraq is just plain wrong?" If I recall correctly, Bush accused Dean of "playing politics with the issue," and implied that Dean wasn't "stand[ing] squarely with the men and women who wear the nation's uniform." Uh huh. So, what's Bush going to say now, to General Anthony Zinni? Accuse him of "playing politics" or not supporting the troops. Yeah, right.
Third, on the pre-war intelligence and how it was used, Zinni called it "spin, cherry-picking facts, using metaphors to evoke certain emotional responses, or, or shading the, the context." Zinni added that this led directly to "the lack of cohesive approach to how we deal with the aftermath," and that these were "strategic mistakes," made by top leadership in Washington DC. Zinni also said that the lead-up to the Iraq War by the Bush Administration involved "lying, incompetence, and corruption." Yikes. Can we say "high crimes and misdemeanors?"
Fourth, Zinni called point blank for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation, and also called for other responsible parties "to be held accountable." Further, in words that must be anathema to the loyalty-obsessed Bush Administration, Zinni noted that "integrity, honesty and performance and competence have to outweigh, in this business, loyalty."
Fifth, on the pre-war comments by the President, Secretary of State, etc. that Saddam wasn't "contained...not in a box," Zinni called that "an insult to the troops who, for 10 years, ran the containment: those brave pilots who flew the no-fly zones, those sailors who enforced the maritime intercept operations, our soldiers and Marines that were on the ground out there that responded to every crisis, our support for the efforts of the inspectors that were in there."
Finally, on the Bush Administration's dream of bringing Democracy to Iraq, Zinni noted that "[a]n election doesn?t equal democracy...We?ve had three elections now, and we don?t have a government yet that can stand up." Zinni concluded:
It?s not just democracy. It?s economic development. It?s social reform. This takes time, takes an investment from the stable part of the world and the unstable part of the world to establish these.
Wow, those are some incredibly blunt words from one of the most respected military thinkers in the world. And on one level, it's great to hear Zinni say this stuff. On another level, though, it's extremely sad, because - unfortunately for America - George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the Republican Congress obviously do not "get it." And that's a Vietnam-like tragedy right there. So when can we get rid of these guys? Oh yeah, there's an election in November. I urge you to keep General Zinni's words in mind when you go vote, and when you replace Bush's friend George Allen with Zinni's friend James Webb. With competent leadership for a change, maybe we can start turning Iraq - and America - around.