[Iraq] Rumsfeld forbade post-war planning

[FriendlyFire]

Rumsfeld forbade post-war planning for Iraq.

According to Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid, in 2003, Rumsfeld said “he would fire the next person” who talked about the need for a post-war plan. “The secretary of defense continued to push on us that everything we write in our plan has to be the idea that we are going to go in, we’re going to take out the regime, and then we’re going to leave,” Scheid said. “We won’t stay.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/09/...ning-for-iraq/

Rumsfeld forbade post-war planning, general maintains
FORT EUSTIS, Va. - Long before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld forbade military strategists to develop plans for securing a post-war Iraq, the retiring commander of the Army Transportation Corps said Thursday.

In fact, said Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid, Rumsfeld said "he would fire the next person" who talked about the need for a post-war plan.

Rumsfeld did replace Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff in 2003, after Shinseki told Congress that hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed to secure post-war Iraq.

Scheid, who is also the commander of Fort Eustis in Newport News, made his comments in an interview with the Newport News Daily Press. He retires in about three weeks.

Scheid's comments are further confirmation of the version of events reported in "Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq," the book by New York Times reporter Michael R. Gordon and retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Bernard E. Trainor.

In 2001, Scheid was a colonel with the Central Command, the unit that oversees U.S. military operations in the Mideast.

On Sept. 10, 2001, he was selected to be the chief of logistics war plans.

On Sept. 11, he said, "life just went to hell."

That day, Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of Central Command, told his planners, including Scheid, to "get ready to go to war."

A day or two later, Rumsfeld was "telling us we were going to war in Afghanistan and to start building the war plan. We were going to go fast.

"Then, just as we were barely into Afghanistan, Rumsfeld came and told us to get ready for Iraq."

Scheid said he remembers everyone thinking, "My gosh, we're in the middle of Afghanistan, how can we possibly be doing two at one time? How can we pull this off? It's just going to be too much."

Eventually other military agencies like the transportation and Army materiel commands had to get involved.

They couldn't just "keep planning this in the dark," Scheid said.

Planning continued to be a challenge.

"The secretary of defense continued to push on us that everything we write in our plan has to be the idea that we are going to go in, we're going to take out the regime, and then we're going to leave," Scheid said. "We won't stay."

Scheid said the planners continued to try "to write what was called Phase 4," or the piece of the plan that included post-invasion operations like security, stability and reconstruction.

Even if the troops didn't stay, "at least we have to plan for it," Scheid said.

"I remember the secretary of defense saying that he would fire the next person that said that," Scheid said. "He said we will not do that because the American public will not back us if they think we are going over there for a long war."
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial...09/1071367.asp

"Our working budgetary assumption was that 90 days after completion of the operation, we would withdraw the first 50,000 and then every 30 days we'd take out another 50,000 until everybody was back. ( Planning for Postwar Iraq as ordered by Rumsfield)
Thomas E. White - Former secretary of the Army

‘The Implication That There Was Something Wrong with the War Plan is Amusing’ - April 20, 2006 Rumsfeid US Secretary of Defence

Sigh
It would be funny if it wasnt so serious

"Wolfowitz is "dangerously idealistic. And crack-smoking stupid."
Army officer Paul Arcangeli retired

[Xanikk999]

AGhhhhhhhhhh.. Ive had enough. This guy should resign post haste!'

Man this guy is more of an idiot then bush. At least bush has morals.

[CivGeneral]

I want to see his resigination papers ASAP .

[Xanikk999]

I mean people are made to resign for things a lot less then this such as public comments.

Remember the hot story right before sept 11? Trent lott i think. Or maybe it was someone else. But all it was was a sex scandel and he resigned.

This guy is ruining our foreign policy he should resign.

[Pontiuth Pilate]

Amazing. You think you know how stupid a man is and then he tops himself.

[Xanikk999]

Why the hell did he forbid planning anyway?

This guy must of had zero War planning experience to think we would be in and out so fast.

What a damn idiot.

[CruddyLeper]

Originally Posted by Xanikk999

Why the hell did he forbid planning anyway?

He forbade planning on logisitcal withdrawal.

Conclusion - the reason was the US planned to stay. Permanently.

[tomsnowman123]

No plan... at all? How much worse can it get? That is extreme ignorance. He does not deserve to be in D.C.

[FriendlyFire]

Originally Posted by CruddyLeper

He forbade planning on logisitcal withdrawal.
Conclusion - the reason was the US planned to stay. Permanently.

key word here is NEED FOR
“he would fire the next person” who talked about the need for a post-war plan.“

It seems artical is two parts
- need for secrecy on planning for Iraq
- refusal for any postwar plan from / by the military

[contre]

Did he truly not believe there would be a need or was he just afraid of that need?

He should resign though. Iraq has gone down hill. His resignation would take some pressure off Bush.

[Red Stranger]

Any backups from legitimate sites?

[Irish Caesar]

Does this surprise anyone? Rumsfeld didn't have a pre-war plan or during-war plan, either.

I never liked the guy as Secretary of Defense; he never seemed interested in what the generals had to say. And that goes for before Iraq as well as after.

[Red Stranger]

Originally Posted by Irish Caesar

Does this surprise anyone? Rumsfeld didn't have a pre-war plan or during-war plan, either.

I never liked the guy as Secretary of Defense; he never seemed interested in what the generals had to say. And that goes for before Iraq as well as after.

There'll always be generals who disagree with him, and generals that agree with him. The highest ranking general, Tommy Frank, happens to be one of those that agrees with Rumsfeld.

[Irish Caesar]

Originally Posted by Red Stranger

There'll always be generals who disagree with him, and generals that agree with him. The highest ranking general, Tommy Frank, happens to be one of those that agrees with Rumsfeld.

If my memory serves me correctly, General Tommy Franks wanted to have more troops for the invasion of Iraq, but Rumsfeld did not. Rumsfeld won that little argument.

[DYNAMICS]

We don't have a plan, both of us!

Don't ask me so many question or you will face sleeping tiger claw!

Do you like my smile? yeah so does your mother!

[Jawz II]

Originally Posted by Irish Caesar

If my memory serves me correctly, General Tommy Franks wanted to have more troops for the invasion of Iraq, but Rumsfeld did not. Rumsfeld won that little argument.

wasnt it tommy franks who said: "i have to go to work everyday and deal with the dumbest effing guy on the planet" or something similar?

i always thought he meant bush, but now im thinking maybe he meant rummy?

[Millman]

Give them a break, they are in their sixties or so, I remember when we have rulers as young as eight and others who almost had the whole world by the age of thirty.

Where did this brillance go?

[Phlegmak]

Originally Posted by Jawz II

wasnt it tommy franks who said: "i have to go to work everyday and deal with the dumbest effing guy on the planet" or something similar?

i always thought he meant bush, but now im thinking maybe he meant rummy?

He was referring to: Douglas J. Feith.

[Pontiuth Pilate]

It's an easy mistake to make... there's no shortage of Effing Dumb Guys in DoD.

[MobBoss]

Originally Posted by Jawz II

wasnt it tommy franks who said: "i have to go to work everyday and deal with the dumbest effing guy on the planet" or something similar?

i always thought he meant bush, but now im thinking maybe he meant rummy?

Why dont you go find out who he meant as opposed to taking it out of context.

Here is a couple of Tommy Franks quote on Bush:

As I look at President Bush, I think he will ultimately be judged as a man of extremely high character. - Tommy Franks

Probably we'll think of Bush in years to come as an American hero.
Tommy Franks

By the way, Tommy Franks was referring to Douglas Feith, an undersecretary for defense for policy.