Sanchez says Bush was “confused” after the Blackwater ambush in Fallujah, March 04…
General Ricardo Sanchez was in charge of military operations in Iraq during 2004, when America lost control of the occupation and found itself fighting a two-front war. It was also when Abu Grhaib surfaced. Sanchez had a terrible reputation as a bull-headed ass with no regard for human rights. But his new memoir attempts to clear his name, per WaPost:
Getting lost in the media furor over McClellan’s memoir is the new autobiography of retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the onetime commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, who is scathing in his assessment that the Bush administration “led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions.”
Among the anecdotes in “Wiser in Battle: A Soldier’s Story” is an arresting portrait of Bush after four contractors were killed in Fallujah in 2004, triggering a fierce U.S. response that was reportedly egged on by the president. During a videoconference with his national security team and generals, Sanchez writes, Bush launched into what he described as a “confused” pep talk:
“Kick ass!” he quotes the president as saying. “If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can’t send that message. It’s an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal. There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!”
So, after the four contractors were killed, Bush approved the US’ storming Fallujah only to turn around 5 weeks later and retreat. This strategic blunder cost 600 Iraqi lives and further damaged Arab public opinion about America. Worse, it led to the pan-Anbari uprising that’s only recently been squashed—by the arming and paying of our former enemies.
When asked what Ameirca owes Iraq, Sanchez gave a decent answer, similar to the one laid out in perfect clarity by moral philosopher Jean Bethke Elshtain in the latest issue of World Affairs.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez: The US has a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that Iraq is capable of providing its own internal/external security before we can withdraw completely. According to international law we incurred that burden when we occupied the country. Furthermore the country must be a functioning member of the region and the international community.
International law didn’t bother Sanchez in regards to human rights and torture, but on this one he’s right.
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