Many have wondered why the Bush administration and Rumsfailed's DoD sent troops into Iraq with absolutely no plan to secure Iraq and protect our troops after Bush's conquest ended.
The Downing Street Memo revealed that Bush and his Neo-Con cronies gave "little thought" to the war's "aftermath and how to shape it." But why would Bush and his Republican dittoheads lead America's troops into Iraq with no plan for the war's aftermath at all? Why would they close their ears to military strategists, generals, and intelligence officials who knew we would need more troops to secure Iraq?
General Mark Scheid says that he has the answer. He says that Rumsfeld and Bush avoided planning because that would show they knew it couldn't be the quick "six days, six weeks, I doubt six months" war that they sold to their country. They lied, eschewed any post-war strategy, and cost thousands of American lives so that they could guarantee that they would get the war they wanted:
Scheid said the planners continued to try "to write what was called Phase 4," or the piece of the plan that included post-invasion operations like occupation.
Even if the troops didn't stay, "at least we have to plan for it," Scheid said.
"I remember the secretary of defense saying that he would fire the next person that said that," Scheid said. "We would not do planning for Phase 4 operations, which would require all those additional troops that people talk about today.
"He said we will not do that because the American public will not back us if they think we are going over there for a long war." (Daily Press)
That's right: More than two of our troops continue to die each day, thousands of Iraqi civilians continue to die, the world is turning against the US, and Bush has sunk Iraq into a civil war because he and Rumsfeld feared that planning for the reality of the war's aftermath might have scared off a few of the war's cheerleaders.
(x-post at The Next Left)