Here’s another enraging and fascinating story of how yet another man with integrity in the U.S. military came up against Rumsfeld, and lost. Money quote:
Over the course of the year-long tour, Gen. Batiste says he had to deal regularly with troop shortages. On three occasions, he was ordered to send soldiers to help other U.S. units in the cities of Najaf and Fallujah to put down revolts. Typically, the Army holds a couple of units in reserve to deal with unforeseen flare-ups. But the desire to keep the force as lean as possible meant there were no extra troops in Iraq.
Each time his soldiers left their area, attacks, intimidation and roadside bombs spiked, Gen. Batiste says. "It was like a sucking chest wound," he says. Relationships that soldiers had painstakingly built with local sheiks — who had been persuaded to cooperate with U.S. forces at great risk to themselves and their families – were lost when the soldiers were sent elsewhere, he says.
Fire Rumsfeld Now.
The Dish 