Tommy Denton: Telling the truth to power (Fallujah flip-flop)

[JoFerret]

http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/columnists%5C10916.html

Military leadership speaks out. On the flip flop of Fallujah and the consequences for the marines. The collective punishment behind the attack, the disaster. On the importance of blowing the whistle.

<<No sooner had Marine Lt. Gen. James T. Conway turned over his command of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq a week ago today than he began speaking truth to power.

Conway was the commanding general on the ground when orders came to attack Fallujah ....- orders that he fervently advised his superiors were misguided, militarily and politically. The orders stood, and the Marines attacked. The battled-hardened general reasoned from experience and savvy that the attack order was counterproductive - he lost six Marines killed in action and six others wounded - but central command, responding to political calculations in Washington, stood firm.

"We had our say," Conway told reporters last week, "and then we salute smartly, and we follow our orders."

Three days later, with the battle joined, a new set of orders came abruptly: Halt the attack and withdraw.

.... he was especially firm in his criticism about the dangers of "vacillation" and retreat.

In effect, he said, the withdrawal certainly emboldened the insurgents and left them with the impression that U.S. forces were irresolute, and therefore vulnerable to even more fierce resistance.

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[JoFerret]

1. WaPo has a different take but the story is the same

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32167-2004Sep18.htmlThe Battlefields of War and Politics
Some soul searching (finally)
By Michael Getler
Sunday, September 19, 2004; Page B06


We are now engaged in a vastly different conflict against a tough, and probably growing, band of fighters ....


However one feels, it seems legitimate to ask: Is this war winnable? If so, how and at what cost? If no, should there be consequences or penalties for launching it? Is it making us safer? Or is it producing more terrorists and hatred of the United States and turning Iraq into a breeding ground for both? Has it diminished our ability to fight the force that did attack us, al Qaeda, and find its leader, Osama bin Laden? How do we make informed judgments about these questions, and how much can the press help us?


In recent months, some news organizations, such as the New York Times and The Post, have done some soul-searching about their prewar coverage....

Another example of why I'm not optimistic occurred last Monday. The outgoing commander of Marine Corps forces in western Iraq told reporters from The Post, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times and CNN that he opposed the assault on militants in the volatile city of Fallujah in April and also disagreed with the subsequent order to halt the attack once underway. "When you order elements of a Marine division to attack a city, you really need to understand what the consequences of that are going to be and not perhaps vacillate in the middle of something like that," said Lt. Gen. James T. Conway.

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