Quote:
Originally posted by Spanky
Do these guys think they are reading Patreus's mind and really know what he is thinking? Even if they think he is lying what gives them the temerity to think they know what he really wants? And why do they think he doesn't really want the troops? In what management class did they learn to put some in charge but tie his hands on the job? Maybe it would make sense to complain about who the president puts in charge, but to support this man taking over, and then question his requests is just pure stupidity.
|
If you think Petraeus just up and asked for this and was given exactly what he wanted, you don't understand the process.
The Administration decided what policy to follow and then decided who should be in charge to execute it. No doubt they asked Petraeus' thoughts after they picked him -- but to put it quite bluntly three star generals don't set policy.
[eta: It is entirely possible that, as you say he said (I didn't see the testimony), he was told to develop a detailed plan to accomplish the following ends using available resources (between X and Y), so he did, and they approved it.]
Moreover, things are no doubt different with Rummy gone, but check any number of recent books -- including Woodward's to see how this Administration handled the whole issue of input from the uniformed commanders. (There was damn little. Rummy filtered everything and decided what to tell the President and how.)
It is possible he wanted more than 21K, or would ideally like more, but is working with what he has because the military can't really afford to send more without upsetting a huge number of apple carts. McCain's quote was that Petraeus told him "ghe thought he could get the job done" with 21K.
S_A_M
Threaded Mode