Letter: President ignored proper warnings

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Wednesday, May 5, 2004 | 10:03 a.m.

Former Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki was ridiculed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld when he had maintained that several hundred thousand troops would be required to accomplish the mission of invading and keeping the peace in Iraq.

Secretary of State Colin Powell warned that if we invaded Iraq, we would be "owning" it. Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni argued that an Iraq without Sadaam would be a lot more dangerous than an Iraq with him.

Despite these warnings, our president ordered an invasion anyway, resulting in more than 720 U.S. troops being killed and no end in sight. And for what real purpose is anyone's guess.

JOHN ESPERIAN