- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - America's
top general on Tuesday lashed out at critics of the U.S. war plan in Iraq,
particularly retired military officers who say the Pentagon leadership
took needless risks by deploying inadequate ground combat forces.
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- "It is not helpful to have those kind of comments
come out when we've got troops in combat because, first of all, they're
false, they're absolutely wrong, they bear no resemblance to the truth,
and it's just harmful to our troops that are out there fighting very bravely,
very courageously," Air Force Gen. Richard Myers told a Pentagon briefing.
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- Myers, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of
Staff, labeled as "bogus" the recent criticism of the war plan
and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's role in crafting it.
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- "I think for some retired military to opine as aggressively
as some have done is not helpful," Myers added.
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- The blistering comments were uncharacteristic for Myers,
who generally is unflappable and mild-mannered in public.
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- All of the U.S. broadcast and cable television news operations
have made extensive use of retired military officers as analysts during
their war coverage. Newspapers and magazines also have quoted former officers
extensively.
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- Myers said the criticism of the war plan is not coming
from "responsible members of the team that put this all together."
He added, "To criticize something they've never seen is pretty audacious,
isn't it?"
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- Some current officers, most speaking anonymously, and
numerous retired officers have aimed sharp criticism at Rumsfeld's influence
in a war plan they say included too few ground forces and relied on rosy
assumptions that the Iraqis would not put up much of a fight.
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- These critics argue that Rumsfeld micro-managed the war
plan now being used by U.S. commander Gen. Tommy Franks, driven by an unrealistic
vision of how a war can be waged.
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- Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey has been among the
most vociferous critics. However, the Army's senior ground commander in
Iraq, Lt. Gen. William Wallace, told reporters last week that overextended
supply lines and Iraq's unconventional tactics increased the likelihood
of a longer war than many U.S. strategists had projected.
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- 'THAT'S NONSENSE'
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- At the briefing, Rumsfeld flatly rejected the criticism
of his role, and blasted the news media for perpetuating it.
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- "The fact (is) that one person prints it, then everyone
else runs around and copycats it and writes it again. Then pretty soon
it's been printed 16 times and everyone says, 'Well, it must be true.'
That's nonsense."
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- "The fact that people have been writing this stuff
over and over and over again and misinforming the world is really not terribly
important," Rumsfeld added.
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- Rumsfeld also sought to downplay his role in the plan.
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- "I keep getting credit for it in the press, but
the truth is I would be happy to take credit for it but I can't,"
Rumsfeld added. "It was not my plan, it was General Franks' plan,
and it was a plan that evolved over a sustained period of time, which I
am convinced is an excellent plan."
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- Rumsfeld also responded to a comment made by chief Pentagon
spokeswoman Victoria Clarke during a briefing on Tuesday in which she said
that after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is toppled, "the Iraqi people
will be free of decades and decades and decades of torture and oppression,
the likes of which, I think, the world has not ever seen before,
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- A reporter asked Rumsfeld whether he truly believed that
Saddam was worse than Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and other 20th century tyrants.
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- "In terms of the modern period, it seems to me that
Iraq clearly is up toward the top of the list," Rumsfeld said.
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- But he added that he did not see Clarke's actual statement.
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