"Our Nation Is In Peril"

It has always been the practice of both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to hold oversight hearings at times of war. As part of the checks and balances built in to the Constitution, these hearings were designed to make sure the troops were getting what they needed from the president.

But not this war. Not this Republican-led Congress. Not this President.

And so, on Monday Democratic members of Congress held their own oversight hearings; and three Iraq War military men (two generals, one colonel, all of them Republicans) voluntarily sat down and let America know exactly how bad Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld have mismanaged this war.

Some selected excerpts:

General Batiste:

My name is John Batiste. I left the military on principle on November 1, 2005, after more than 31 years of service. I walked away from a promotion and a promising future serving our country. I hung up my uniform because I came to the gut-wrenching realization that I could do more good for my soldiers and their families out of uniform. I am a West Point graduate, the son and son-in-law of veteran career soldiers, a two-time combat veteran with extensive service in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq, and a life-long Republican.

Bottom line, our nation is in peril, our Department of Defense’s leadership is extraordinarily bad, and our Congress is only today, more than five years into this war, beginning to exercise its oversight responsibilities. This is all about accountability and setting our nation on the path to victory. There is no substitute for victory and I believe we must complete what we started in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Donald Rumsfeld is not a competent wartime leader. He knows everything, except how to win...He refused to acknowledge and even ignored the potential for the insurgency, which was an absolute certainty. Bottom line, his plan allowed the insurgency to take root and metastasize to where it is today...

Secretary Rumsfeld’s dismal strategic decisions resulted in the unnecessary deaths of American servicemen and women, our allies, and the good people of Iraq. He was responsible for America and her allies going to war with the wrong plan and a strategy that did not address the realities of fighting an insurgency. He violated fundamental principles of war, dismissed deliberate military planning, ignored the hard work to build the peace after the fall of Saddam Hussein, set the conditions for Abu Ghraib and other atrocities.

Secretary Rumsfeld built his team by systematically removing dissension. America went to war with "his plan" and to say that he listens to his generals is disingenuous...

Our nation’s treasure in blood and dollars continues to be squandered under Secretary Rumsfeld’s leadership. Losing one American life due to incompetent war planning and preparation is absolutely unacceptable.

General Eaton:

I was given the order to go to Iraq to create the Army on May 9, 2003, one week after the President’s ["Mission Accomplished"] speech aboard aircraft carrier Lincoln. To state the obvious, a very late order...

The President charged Secretary Rumsfeld to prosecute this war, a man who has proven himself incompetent strategically, operationally, and tactically. Mr. Rumsfeld came into his position with an extraordinary arrogance...

Colonel Hammes:

While asking major sacrifices, to include the ultimate sacrifice, from those Americans who are serving in Iraq, we are not even asking our fellow citizens to pay for the war - instead we are charging it to our children and grandchildren...

Given the fact that the Secretary of Defense has not acknowledged the numerous, serious mistakes made to date, I do not believe it is possible for him to provide the leadership necessary to succeed in Iraq. It is time for him to provide the nation the last in a long series of services, and step down.

A small portion of Gen. Batiste's remarks can be seen here.

Say it with me: Worst. President. Ever.