New YorkerBreaking Ranks: What Turned B. Scowcroft Against the Bush Admin?

[NVMojo]

A must read!

Scowcroft on Iraq and Neocon Idealism

A principal reason that the Bush Administration gave no thought to unseating Saddam was that Brent Scowcroft gave no thought to it. An American occupation of Iraq would be politically and militarily untenable, Scowcroft told Bush. And though the President had employed the rhetoric of moral necessity to make the case for war, Scowcroft said, he would not let his feelings about good and evil dictate the advice he gave the President.

It would have been no problem for America's military to reach Baghdad, he said. The problems would have arisen when the Army entered the Iraqi capital. "At the minimum, we'd be an occupier in a hostile land," he said. "Our forces would be sniped at by guerrillas, and, once we were there, how would we get out? What would be the rationale for leaving? I don't like the term 'exit strategy' -- but what do you do with Iraq once you own it?"

Scowcroft stopped for a moment. We were sitting in the offices of the Scowcroft Group, a consulting firm he heads, in downtown Washington. He appeared to be weighing the consequences of speaking his mind. His speech is generally calibrated not to give offense, especially to the senior Bush and the Bush family. He is eighty and, by most accounts, has been content to cede visibility to the larger personalities with whom he has worked.

more....

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/

[Gman]

1. Scrowcroft came out firmly against the war in early 2003

and was also said to be speaking for poppy because poppy wouldn't come out his self against his son. Scowcroft hasn't changed a thing about how he feels or has felt all along.

[babylonsister]

2. Thanks, and it's about time.

Again, Poppy must be proud.

[renate]

3. oooooooooooooo! I like this part!

And in the (New Yorker) piece, George H.W. Bush is interviewed about Scowcroft -- and while Bush 41's comments are more elliptical, he stands clearly by Scowcroft's side in clear criticism of the decisions his son made.

Thanksgiving is going to be a little uncomfortable this year.

[NVMojo]

5. you got that right!!! LOL!!!!

[Captain Hilts]

4. Scowcroft ALWAYS opposed the Iraq War. nt

[demgrrrll]

6. They are trying to save the Party. They want to distance themselves

from the disaster that is George W Bush. That is why Democrats need to tie GWB to the Republicans with twine so the party stays the party of George W Bush. We don't want them to be able to diffuse what is coming down the pike with distance and their own criticism.

[punpirate]

7. Let's not forget...

... Scowcroft was Kindasleezza's mentor. Cheney was Poppy's Sec. of Offense. And, let's not forget whose dinner table Junior sat at growing up. Poppy was no prince, and, in his own way, is just as sleazy as his kid.

These old-guard guys are after exactly the same things as the Bushies. They just don't like it being messy. What they most resent is the bull-in-a-china-shop tactics of the hard-line neo-conservatives. They want to be able to screw the world in the same way, but they also want the world to say, "thanks, I needed that."

Scowcroft is part of that old guard that would rather subvert a country for US corporate interests than wade right into a war to do the same thing. That doesn't make him honorable. It just makes him right about this instance of the lack of recommedation for war.

[NVMojo]

8. ....totally agree and we must remember that shrub appointed his dad's

cabinet when he came on board as US prez in 2000 ...

[renate]

9. kick

This is a must-read!