Letter: Bush to blame for unneeded war

Friday, Dec. 17, 2004 | 4:42 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

December 18 - 19, 2004

John B. Alexander's Dec. 12 commentary, "Blame our Iraq military woes on Rumsfeld," accurately and concisely summarizes our situation in that religious quagmire. He should have added Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush, in addition to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as responsible for this disastrous war.

The president was fixated on Iraq from the day he stepped into the White House, so much so that he was caught flat-footed on 9/11, in spite of urgent warnings by our counter-terrorism experts. Gen. Tommy Franks made the president look good in Afghanistan, but the White House and the civilians in the Pentagon deliberately ignored advice from our military about Iraq. Why? Because the president, for self-serving political and possibly personal aggrandizement reasons, wanted to appear bold and decisive. Disgusting but true.

ROLF GOETH

archive