Home > Root Causes of Haditha

Root Causes of Haditha

by Open-Publishing - Tuesday 13 June 2006
16 comments

Wars and conflicts International USA

The guy retired after 31 years so he could blow the whistle, The incompetency he describes reminded me of Katrina

By Maj. Gen. John Batiste (retired)
The Salt Lake Tribune
Friday 09 June 2006

There is a direct link between the alleged atrocities in Haditha and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. His poor decisions and bad judgment in 2003 and 2004 are the root causes for the prolonged challenge we now face. Haditha is but a symptom of a much bigger problem.

The secretary of defense got the war in Iraq terribly wrong, and he did not set the conditions for success. He rejected the existence of the insurgency, which was an absolute certainty, and sent America to war with insufficient resources to accomplish the mission. Remember that he alone is responsible for what happens or fails to happen in the Department of Defense. The news of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s demise is certainly good news, but we must remember the Zarqawi was but a cog in a very complex insurgency that the secretary of defense’s plan allowed to take root, grow, and expand to what it is today. This is all about competency and accountability. This is all about what is good for our country.

I am a two-time combat veteran in Iraq with many years of experience in peace enforcement operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. My only motivation in speaking out is our great country, our incredible military and their terrific families. I left the military after 31 years of service despite a promising career and promotion in order to speak out, to turn the lights on in a very dark room. I am honor bound to continue to do so. I have been a lifelong Republican.

America went to war in Iraq with the secretary of defense’s plan. He ignored the U.S. Central Command’s deliberate planning and strategy, dismissed honest dissent, and browbeat subordinates to build his plan, which did not address the hard work to crush the insurgency, secure a post-Saddam Iraq, build the peace and set Iraq up for self-reliance. He refused to acknowledge and even ignored the potential for the insurgency.

Bottom line, his plan allowed the insurgency to take root and grow to where it is today. Our great military lost a critical window of opportunity to secure Iraq because of inadequate troop levels and the decision to stand down the Iraqi security forces.

In the early days of the campaign, we needed at least 380,000 coalition forces in addition to the Iraqi security forces to impose security and prevent the insurgency. We were undermanned by a factor of at least three and could not secure the country during a very crucial period.

To compensate for the shortage of troops, commanders were routinely forced to manage shortages and shift coalition and Iraqi security forces from other contentious areas to counter growing threats in places like An Najaf, Tal Afar, Samarra, Ramadi, Fallujah and others.

We were certainly successful in the short term, but the minute we completed the mission and redeployed forces back to where they came from, insurgents reoccupied the vacuum and the cycle repeated itself. In addition, forces returning to familiar territory found themselves fighting to reoccupy ground that had once been secure. I am reminded of the myth of Sisyphus.

This is no way to fight a counter-insurgency. The secretary of defense’s plan did not set our military up for success. He squandered an opportunity early on to nip the insurgency in the bud. Haditha should not be a surprise to any of us. Our Army and Marine Corps remain under-resourced and overcommitted.

The secretary of defense’s plan did not anticipate nor account for the insurgency, which was an absolute certainty and fully addressed in the U.S. Central Command’s deliberate planning. Remember the Pentagon news conference in late October 2003. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff chose to use the word "insurgent" to describe the enemy in Iraq. The secretary of defense quickly corrected him and went out of his way to dismiss the word insurgent. Sadly, this was already seven months into the campaign and beyond the point of no return. The so-called "speed bumps on the way to Baghdad" would become our focus of main effort for years.

The secretary of defense’s decision to stand down the Iraqi military resulted in uncontrollable chaos and the dismantling of the extensive Iraqi security force infrastructure that we are still working to rebuild today. This decision gave the insurgency an unlimited supply of manpower, weapons and ammunition.

Further, when Saddam’s well-appointed military garrisons were abandoned, the Iraqi people looted them and carried away every brick, door and piece of glass. There was nothing left but concrete slabs all over Iraq. Chaos reigned.

The work to rebuild the Iraqi army and police became that much harder, and we have yet to recover. We are now into our fourth year with continued chaos, Haditha, Abu Ghraib, 2,477 dead and 17,869 wounded Americans, and up to $9 billion spent every month. We continue to bleed our national treasure in blood and dollars. It did not need to be this way. What should have been a deliberate victory is now a protracted challenge.

The secretary of defense does not understand the human dimension of warfare. The mission in Iraq is all about breaking the cycle of violence, building relationships and the hard work to change attitudes and give the Iraqi people alternatives to the insurgency. This requires boots on the ground in sufficient quantity to establish security, intimidate the insurgent, protect lines of communication and the oil infrastructure, train the Iraqi security forces, and control the borders. You cannot do this with precision bombs from 30,000 feet. This is tough, dangerous, and very personal work. Numbers count.

Based upon all the above, the secretary of defense is not a competent wartime leader. He knows everything, except "how to win." He surrounds himself with like-minded and compliant subordinates who do not grasp the importance of the principles of war, the complexities of Iraq, or the human dimension of warfare.

I wonder how many times in the last five years the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was permitted to give the president his unvarnished opinion, one on one, with no one else in the room? The 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act mandates that the chairman be, among other things, the "principal military adviser to the president." How can he render advice when overshadowed by a secretary of defense who knows everything and dominates all that he touches?

The American people deserve accountability and it is time for change. Without accountability, we cannot move forward. Move forward we must to win the war on terrorism. Our leaders are dodging their responsibilities. Our congressional oversight committees need to get engaged and start asking the tough questions. We all deserve a secretary of defense whose instinct and judgment we trust. Victory hangs in the balance.

--------

Maj. Gen. John Batiste (retired) commanded the Army’s First Infantry Division, both in Iraq and in Kosovo. Before that, he was the senior military assistant to then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. He’s now president of Klein Steel Services in Rochester, NY.

Forum posts

  • The general is the one who is wrong. What the general and all those who say that the war in Iraq is a failure are wrong.

    What is happenning in and to Iraq and it’s peoples is going according to plan, if fact, it is going better than the plan. It is as though there is a divine hand in the implementation of the plans.

    The U.S. holds all of the winning hands, you might say, it holds all of the cards and there is not a single one in it that is a losing card.

    Look around you, listen what the Americans say about Arabs and Muslims. Do you think that they want to stop the killing?

    The handful few who are on this and other blogs like this are the only ones who appear to have some limited ability to see the destruction. But they are again mistaken if they think that what is happening is a result of failure or is a failure.

    • Americans are being brainwashed. This sickening racist’s comments show how the bush regime has used the self-loathing that the bush crime family and the repukes created by refusing to fund education and taking over our films and TV including the news to spread propaganda which many Americans have never been taught how to analyze. Some of the online sites about brainwashing and propaganda can be a help in understanding the lies coming out of the White House and to understand why and how Americans have been fooled and how to help them see the Truth.

      http://www.psywarrior.com/psyhist.html

      Is anything worth the lives of 2500 of our brave American troops?? If you were the parent of one of our soldiers would all of the millions of people in the world mean anything compared to your child? We all a part of one another and when anyone dies a part of all of us dies.Gallery, the Son Tay POW Rescue Raid, plus stories about two of our nation’s heroes, and much more.

      I can never understand how this president could make such a terrible decision based on faulty intel...and he knew it was. It amazes me to see the comments made on this board by Republican’s who claim to be Christian. You can see so clearly the difference in values between the two parties, just by the hate and anger Republicans spew and the lack of concern about our Troops dying in mass numbers.

      I guess there is a real distinction between the two parties and I am so glad I am a Democrat and will NEVER vote GOP again!!

      I would rather see all 2500 of our troops alive than the killing of all the terrorists in the world...These troops are America’s and the ones who really matter!!

      I ALWAYS WONDERED HOW THE ROMANS COULD GATHER AND WATCH WILD ANIMALS RIP A HUMAN APART WHILE CHEERING THE DEATH — IT APPEARS THERE ARE STILL THOSE TYPE OF PEOPLE AROUND IN THE USA TO THIS DAY.
      ====
      http://www.taroscopes.com/highwindowsarticles/symbol_literacy_1.html

      http://www.symbolism.org/links.html
      http://www.colormatters.com/

    • is anything worth the lives of the 2,500 servicemen killed in Iraq? How about another 3,000 dead in some new Moslem hit here in the States while we hid under the beds.?

      How about Jihadis coming out our ears because they know we are fags like the French and wont fight. Lets all hide and piss ourselves.

      Our military in Iraq have displayed Brilliance and self control. We have lost about as many men if the Army were back Stateside and getting involved in traffic accidents. The Iraqi "insurgency" must be masturbating in their sleep for all the military damage they have done to us in Iraq. They KILL ONE ANOTHER, and we watch and eat popcorn. Its the right way to fight a war. The Jihadis eat each other and we stand around and smoke.

      Militarily 2,500 dead over nearly six years now is chicken feed. We used to lose 250 a day in the second world war and we held up with 800 a month in Vietnam. These American soldiers are professionals who chose to do this work for a Living. There havent been fighting men better than ours since the beginning of the World.

      The insurgency gets shot to living sh*t every time they take us on. get real

      We are going to be in Iraq for the Next FIFTY years...as long as we have been in Germany.

      We have built city sized bases out in Western Iraq to guard the Oil Pipeline from Kirkuk to Haifa. The Oil will be turned on eventually and the US and Israel will make billions selling Itaqi Oil all over the European Mediterranean. The Democracy we have established in Iraq is not going to go away. Those Iraqi politicians are going to be LOYAL to the money they will be controling. The Iraqi insurgency doesnt have a suare inch of Iraq where they can take off their shoes and take a break. We blew Zarquawi away while he was in bed with his 13 year old wife. The insurgency is being hunted down by the Iraqis themselves.

      The war is over essentially. We could leave now. But we will keep the bases and we will make sure the Iraqi military does a rotoRooter until we say stop. 75,000 Iraqi troops just moved into every neighborhood in Baghdad.

      They will establish such a tight cork on every street and alley that the Insurgency will try to go somewhere else...and the countryside is all they can try..we have checkpoints for everything that moves. Its OUR game.

      the "insurgency" is getting dimed by ordinary Iraqis just picking up a cell phone. Every city in Iraq will get the same thing Baghdad is getting right now.

      We have won this war. I know some of you Leftys dont like that but hey. I dont care what you like.

      The Bases stay, the Iraqi Democracy stays. The Insurgency gets rounded up and hosed. The Iraqis dime it to death and the cities get filled up with Police and big smiles. Now turn on the Oil.

      say Thankyou, george Bush.

      Oh, before I forget, Haditha never happened. The Marines killed fifteen Jihadis and the ones being used as human shields by the Jihadis... the Insurgency shot the other nine and piled them up for a Lefty paid for Snuff film and framed the Marines.

      Time is backpedaling on the lazy and sloppy journalism with three retractions so far and the MSM is backing up so fast their tires are smoking. There isnt ANY evidence that the Marines committed any crime, the "witnesses" are all BOGUS and the US MARINES are gonna walk with no charges. Go spit on the flag somewhere else.

      And if you dont like it get more Votes than all the people who own Tractors and Pickups. Because I will cluebat you, Bubba and Betty Sue run this country and you can pour that in your wine glass and drink it.

      God Bless the United States and be damned.

    • Listen Christians, I have a question for you:

      Have you noticed that your God can’t seem to get it up anymore?

      I mean, he told Bu$h that "He da man"....then he tells the fool to attack Iraq and kill 100,000 Iraqis who have never done one thing to the U.S.A (there are many stupid people that think Saddam Hussein is Osama Bin Laden maybe even God thinks so) But where was God’s help for Mr. Bu$h? He can’t seem to get it up and after more than 3 years, the almighty, still can’t seem to get anything accomplished except a huge mess and now they have a civil war and no comforts in life. How almighty is that?

      I mean, if that is your God no wonder YOU ARE so screwed up.

      I say SCREW YOUR GOD AND SCREW THE DONKEY (ASS) HE RODE IN ON.

    • Got a "God" thing, do you?

      Maybe its a symptom. Bush has 50 Divisions and 13 Aircraft Carrier Battlefleets and he hardly needs God except to watch him work.

      And how can you effect any of it anyway? You dont have any power and you obviously are out of the mainstream majority. After all you dont have any friends in the White House or the Pentagon and all those folks who put them there. Win an Election and we will talk together again concerning getting you some sort of job with the incoming Administration.

      Until then, blow it out your a88 and keep walking, Chump.

    • No, he makes a good point,you condescending, clueless a88hole. Who would jesus bomb?

  • so a few ragheads get greased SO WHAT HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAA

  • Americans have no conscience. We still hear in the press about this massacre: that this people even the most innocent, the babies deservered to be killed by the heroic marines.
    So far, 2.9 million civilians have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq!

    Still proud to be an American? I fear yes!

    • yes very proud, let me get my m-16 hehehhehehheehehhhehe

    • So the general blames rumpsfelt, for a lack of planning? However, all americans who join the military, and go to Iraq, do so of their own free will. Did it never cross the rasist generals` little mind that he had the option of refusing to go? Did his blinding porcine patriotism cloud the fact that he was going to another country, with the purpose of killing and stealing? How would he feel if, in retaliation, the Iraqui insurgents were to bomb his famil;y home, or his local shool? What would he do if his mother were to be shot at a checkpoint?
      Whilst he blames others for allowing him to lose...he never questions the reason for the invasion. At Nuremberg, the defence of "following orders" was not allowed.

    • Militarily it is usually a very good idea to go over to your enemy’s yard and shoot his dog. Then you kick HIS door in and he cant move fast enough to come over to your yard and do the same to you.

      We are in Iraq and they are not in America. They came over to America as big smiling Jihadis and killed 3,000 of our civilians and made us stop watching Television and eating Cheetoes. That was a big mistake on Allah’s part. Screw Allah.

      We moved 25 armored Divisions into the strategic CENTER of the Middle East and grabbed Saddam by the neck and stuffed him down inside a coffee tin. Then we settle in to uproot their military capability and their institutions. We broke their flag and gave them a new one. They broke into each others homes and raped one another and stole the Iron Lung down at the Hospital and dragged it back to the mud hut and used it for a chicken Coop. That isnt our problem, its their Problem if they like to loot and steal from one another. Its in the Koran.

      So the thugs of which Iraq has a plentiful supply due to their 3,000 year old traditions of raping the mental patients down at the Mosque for Big Moustache and glory...began to turn Iraq into a fairy land of kidnapping and throat slitting. And WHO were they doing it to...why to ONE ANOTHER. Do we see any pattern here?

      On very rare occassions they decided to attack an American who was surrounded by a whole platoon of his buddies all of whom had machine guns and LIKED using them, This got old VERY fast with predictable rsults, so the thugs went back to raping and bombing the old folks home and sticking up the kindergarten, which as we all know is Holy Jihad.

      But again, the crucial point was that they were doing it to ONE ANOTHER which is the Moslem way. Piss be Upon Him.

      We built big bases to guard the Pipeline and Dick Cheny got the Big Oil Corporations to modernize the Iraqi Oil infrastructure.

      The Kurds were encouraged to become POLICE. And the Shias were encouraged to become ARMY. When we had about 200,000 of each all trained up we moved them all into Anbar province and let them have a party six to one on the Sunnis. The Sunnis were encouraged to Vote early and often and Allah seeing that all was good rolled over and took a snooze.

      Zarquawi didnt like it , of course, but you cant please everyone. Zarko after being shown how to unjam his weapon, cut off a few heads and blew up a school bus and a market and declared War on the shias which wasnt a good idea since the Shias were 67% of the population and most of that was in the Army looking for him. Someone he knew sprinkled fairy dust on him and a five hundred pound bomb went off under his rectum at 2:30 in the morning and the next thing he knew he was hemorrhaging in a ditch and the Americans were taking his picture while his lungs ruptured and came out his nose.

      Rumsfeld will stay at the Pentagon for another two years and he may step down when George Bush goes back to Texas. The Democrats will have a big Convention and Hillary and kerry will all be in the same coffe tin with Pelose, the Kos kidz and Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Murtha a88hole to bellybutton Cyrnthis McKinney. Kerry will salute and report for Duty and every one will suggest he go stand over there. Its going to be fun.

      And Karl Rove will be going Bwahahahaha...and piping millions and millions from the Oil Corporations and the major Arms Contractors and International Corporations into the Republican coffers while the democrats are fishing for a nickel and dime to go to Shoneys for lunch at the Buffet.

      The Elections will all be very brave and very American and the democrats will get a88whacked as usual and NOBODY will listen to the French.

      Iran is next. Fallujah is the future. And the israelis wont wait to hit Bushehr before 2007. Iran will declare war on israel and the United States will once again be butthump and teakettle. Dont be downwind from Teheran. And if you live in Isfahan get some lead underpants.

      Meanwhile I will be over here going through your stuff. Most of you arent going to be needing it where you are going.

    • I have never read such a crap! The Iraqis didn’t come over and attacked the towers in New York nor did the Taliban or Afghanis.

      Typically American sick minded! We need another Nuremberg! It seems most of the Americans agree with malicous glee or only stupideness on unjustified killing.

    • It is quite true, as you say, that the Iraqis didnt come over to do up the WTC in the grand old way we associate with the Muhammed Syndrome.

      The MOSLEMS did that. But Iraq is FULL of Moslems none of whom are too terribly loved or loving. Iraq was CONVENIENT as was Afghanistan. Iraq is the STRATEGIC center of Gravity for the Middle East. Before we flatten ALL of the Middle East it was of sound policy to flatten the biggest Army IN the Middle East and not only get some practical Practice but to show every raghead and his government we could do it in three weeks flat while not wearing a jockey strap.

      Afghanistan was orderves. It was instructional to the whole world that what the Russians couldnt do in ten years we did in a weekend.

      Now what do we see if we look at a map? We see American B-52 and Stealth Bomber Bases across the Russian Republics. We see Iran boxed West and East by American owned and operated Iraq and Afghanistan . Iran is up to its gonads in the Proud, the Mean, and the Invincible. The Persian Gulf sports not just one, not just two...but Three Aircraft Carrier Battle Fleets. We have 5,000 Reserve Marines off Oman on Socotra and enough stores and Logistics there for five years of boom and a88whack. We have Pakistan on a short leash and we have full access to their military. We have another stores and Naval Base on Qatar and training facilities all throughout the Emirates. While Saudi is "reluctant" to allow us to have a Base, they do lease any number of Naval facilities and warehouses so we can do our laundry and store our Condoms.

      We have SAT coverage of every inch of Iran and we can tell what the Mullahs cat has in its supperdish. We have overflight at will of Iran and they really cant do anything about it. We have some 8,000 agents inside Iran and thats why the Azeris and the Baluchis have been so kind as to blow Pres. Abujibberjabbers Limousine convoy down to Bandar Abbas away , scattering the Body guard and the chauffer’s brains in the ditch. Too bad we missed Abu Nosejob himself.

      The homes and addresses of all the 300 ruling Mullahs is known and programmed into a computer. Some 300 of them can expect to see their homes, their wives and families all tageted simultaneously the first night of the war by Cruise missiles. Most of the regime wont see the Dawn. Israel will be in on this one and they will take care of Bushehr so that it is never rebuilt and also made hard to find except for the black marks. 450 other sites will be hit on a priority 24/7 by the US Air Force. All the Command and Control and then every Nuclear research facility and anything else with electric lights. If we cant get it with a Bunker Buster we use a micro-Nuke and the entire Middle East can wake up to the fact that yes we can.

      France will hold a protest March and we will ignore them. The only Aircraft Carrier theyve got is listing to starboard half way to Indonesia , a little late to help with the Tsunami. If it ever does get there it will just have to turn around and float back. mai Oui, Monsieur.

      NOBODY is going to stop us. France is cheese. Russia is an outhouse. And China isnt into Carry Out yet.

      The UN is ...well, the UN. It will issue a stern warning and then go read the funnies in the John.

      Iran is NEXT. They will get hit by Israel and we will be " reluctantly" dragged into it. The fact that the entire Pentagon is and has been preparing to cut Iran a second mouth under its chin for the past 30 years has nothing to do with it. Well, yes it has. We have been looking to take Iran to the butcher since BEFORE Iraq. That is primarily WHY we boxed Iran between Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place. But dont tell anybody.

      The Russians have agreed that they can have the northern half of the Caspian Reserve and all they have to do to get it is play footsy with us under the table and then drive in with Armor to "restore Order". The Chinese will get Oil development contracts in the eastern Caspian Reserves in Iran and all they have to do is wait until we finish bombing the living screaming sh*t out of the Iranians.

      The Iranians have 89% of ALL of their developed Oil in Khuzestan province which is right across the border from Iraqi Mosul and Kirkuk. The Arabs funded by American and British agents who make up the majority of people in Khuzestan are already blowing up the Iranians for us and the Iraqi Ayatollah Sistani has agreed that if we give him access to the Khuzestan revenues he will use the good offices of the Kabala and Najaf Shia theologians to squat in the faces of the Iranian theologians in Qom. Its an old Shia thing dating back to Ali and they hate each other as only brothers in the religion of Peace can.

      We will rip Khuzestan off Irans back in the first five days of the war. The Iranians will counter with a "surge" into Iraq spearheaded by Monkeyboy Sadr. the ape in a Turban. And Sistani will betray him...to us. Sistani will pocket Khuzestan and Sadr will vanish to no one knows where. He will join the 13th Imam in Lalaland. And the Iranians will get a second dose from the Iraqi Army which will welcome a shot at doing what they did so well in the war with iran, filling up those MAMMOTH Shaheedi graveyards with Basij and Pasdaran.

      With no Oil and its wallet gone Iran will be desperate, especially when the US Marines land and take Bandar Abbas and open the straits of Hormuz and never give it back anymore than the Brits gave back Gibraltar.

      Iran will counterattack to take Khuzestan back. But they will have to squeeze everything they have through the "Zagros Gates" mountain passes which the US can hold with a Platoon and lame dog. And the entire Iranian military can be bombed straight to Jesus on those narrow mountain roads by American Air Superiority.

      Have you devoted any time to Prayer, my Son? Suggest to Allah that he get a new hat.

      What is the Middle East going to DO when Iran is partitioned up and half a dozen little countries are made out of it? Because once Iran is down and gutted...we do Saudi next.

    • Pretty good synopsis , except for the "THE MOSLEMS DID IT ! " part . C’mon Bubba , if you can be so confident as to how this will all turn out , at least be a man and admit that 9/11 was staged . Not only do your heroes kill arabs , they kill Americans as well .

    • I understand what the Russians couldn’t do in a decade and what we did in a weekend in Afghanistan, is still not over 4 years later. Better readjust your thinking caps.

    • Watch:

      http://numberonesnowstreetvideos.blogspot.com/2001/09/conspiracies.html

      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8260059923762628848

      http://www.erichufschmid.net/911.wmv

      http://www.erichufschmid.net/AreTheCriminalsFrightened.wmv

      http://www.erichufschmid.net/911.swf