Saturday, April 15, 2006

Yes, Gen. Zinni - let's move on

Another knockout piece by Victor Davis Hanson on where we stand, and where some out-of-the-loop Flag officers need to find a new hobby.
Imagine that, as we crossed the Rhine, retired World War II officers were still harping, in March, 1945, about who was responsible months during Operation Cobra for the accidental B-17 bombing, killing, and wounding of hundreds of American soldiers and the death of Lt. Gen. Leslie McNair; or, in the midst of Matthew Ridgeway's Korean counteroffensives, we were still bickering over MacArthur's disastrous intelligence lapses about Chinese intervention that caused thousands of casualties. Did the opponents of daylight bombing over Europe in 1943 still damn the theories of old Billy Mitchell, or press on to find a way to hit Nazi Germany hard by late 1944?
Though he doesn't mention General Zinni by name (the title editors at NRO did) I think he is one of the top 10 retired Flags that need to move on.

You can tell it is an election year because those who you have not seen in 24 months are starting to come out of the woodwork. Many of them just plain prostitute themselves looking for a job with the upcoming/next Democrat administration - but some are a little more complicated. Gen. Zinni is one of those.

I sent some ordnance downrange under Gen. Zinni's command back in Desert FOX with all its sending B-1B after army infantry barracks in the middle of the night and making TLAM missions on the fly to take out parked trucks at the end of an airfield - simply because we were out of targets. Hey, I actually met the man once. Not that means anything.

If you recall, Zinni was the Israel/Palestinian envoy in the early parts of the Bush Administration. He failed, with style over three trips. His behavior prior to the election was classic bitter-boy politics.

It is 2006, Zinni is out there again. Yawn. Take up golf.
UPDATE: Powerline has a very strong piece on the same subject, and a link to something, I think, started it all. On the same subject, you need to visit BLACKFIVE and COUNTERCOLUMN.

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