01 02 07 General Casey: Time To Move On
One of the most significant failings of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war aftermath has been the failure to hold both civilian and military officials responsible when things go wrong. Especially at the highest levels. Certainly nobody can expect all elements of a war or occupation to go perfectly as planned - mistakes will be made and the situation on the ground can invalidate previous assumptions. However, at some point there must be an accountability for repeated failure to recognize failed plans, changed circumstances and not making the necessary and sometimes difficult changes required to put the operation back on track.In the case of Iraq, General Casey is auditioning at the Senate today for a promotion to Army Chief of Staff after over 30 months in charge of the Army in Iraq. As very disillusioned supporters of the decision to go to war in Iraq, we have a very hard time understanding not only the submission of Casey's name for this job but also the Senate's likely approval. Senator McCain today captured our sentiment best:
"While I don't in any way question your honor, your patriotism or your service to our country, I do question some of the decisions, the judgments you've made over the past two and a half years," McCain said. "During that time things have gotten markedly and progressively worse."In regards Casey's performance we are left with these choices:
Where does this leave us? Either Casey failed miserably at his job or his performance was hindered by others at higher levels of government. If the former, under no circumstances should he be rewarded with a promotion to Army Chief of Staff. If the latter, under no circumstances should he be rewarded with a promotion to Army Chief of Staff as he failed to disclose in public or to the various congressional oversight committees that the situation on the ground was deteriorating rapidly and that while he had plans, those above him somehow were preventing the implementation in a material way. At Casey's level it is not insubordination to make his concerns known to the White House and/or Congress. That he apparently did not, in our opinion, disqualifies him from any other high ranking position in the military.Casey himself failed to develop and implement successful strategies to reverse the decline in security in Iraq; Casey had good plans but was unable gain approval to implement them from the Pentagon; Casey had good plans which were approved by the Pentagon but was not given the necessary resources to implement those plans; Casey (and perhaps the Pentagon) had good plans but they were denied or not given adequate resources by the White House
General Casey may be a good man, a patriot and a hard worker - yet many good men and women are fired everyday for poor job performance even though they may possess those same traits. It is past time for accountability in Iraq.
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