I Have Seen This Movie Before

And now, once again, Gen. Anthony J. Zinni speaks:

"I'm surprised that [Rumsfeld] is surprised [at the number of U.S. casualties] because there was a lot of us who were telling him that it was going to be thus. ... Anyone could know the problems they were going to see. How could they not?" ...

For years Zinni said he cautioned U.S. officials that an Iraq without Saddam Hussein would likely be more dangerous to U.S. interests than one with him because of the ethnic and religious clashes that would be unleashed.

"I think that some heads should roll over Iraq," Zinni said. "I think the president got some bad advice." ...

Not even Zinni's resume could shield him from the accusations that followed.

"I've been called a traitor and a turncoat for mentioning these things," said Zinni, 60. The problems in Iraq are being caused, he said, by poor planning and shortsightedness, such as disbanding the Iraqi army and being unable to provide security.

Zinni said the United States must now rely on the U.N. to pull its "chestnuts out of the fire in Iraq."

"We're betting on the U.N., who we blew off and ridiculed during the run-up to the war," Zinni said. "Now we're back with hat in hand. It would be funny if not for the lives lost."...

"In the end, the Iraqis themselves have to want to rebuild their country more than we do," Zinni said. "But I don't see that right now. I see us doing everything.

"I spent two years in Vietnam, and I've seen this movie before," he said. "They have to be willing to do more or else it is never going to work."

It's too bad this man is legally prohibited from being SecDef anytime soon. Maybe he's interested in being SecState.

(Tip: Mark Kleiman.)

Comments

[Oldman]

More importantly why didn't we put him in charge of Iraq after June 30th? Negroponte's queasy history aside, the choice of him as defacto governor general of Iraq shows that the Administration has absolutely no commitment to a democratic and economically healthy Iraq. It's not that every candidate has to know Arabic, but this man has absolutely no experience at all at Reconstruction! Garner was more qualified.

What he is good at though is being loyal and carrying out orders even if they are quasi-legal.

Zinni would have been a much better choice to head Iraq than Negroponte any day.