Letter: Bush has a lot of nerve to level that criticism

Saturday, May 5, 2007 | 7 a.m.

In his veto message of Congress' emergency war spending bill, along with his public comments leading up to the veto, President Bush criticized Congress for what he called "second-guessing" and "tying the hands" of U.S. generals.

The hypocrisy of these statements is astounding. Consider this: In the 2001 run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki testified before Congress that the occupation of Iraq would require "several hundred thousand troops." Shinseki's estimate, by the way, was echoed by retired Gens. Norman Schwarzkopf and Wesley Clark.

Rather than listening to his military leaders, Bush and company launched into a smear campaign against Shinseki's professional judgment and character. He resigned after his term as Army chief ended - forced to do so, according to many published accounts.

Another retired military leader, Gen. Anthony Zinni, in 2004 accused Bush and his defense team of "dereliction of duty." It should be noted that Zinni had served Bush as special envoy to the Middle East, a diplomatic post.

For Bush to accuse anyone of second-guessing military leaders is the apex of hypocrisy. He's been doing it since Day One. The only person whose judgment is being called into question by Congress is President Bush - and with good reason . He's amassed a stunning record of negligence and incompetence, and last November, in the only way they could, Americans said, "Enough!"

Gregory Grant, Las Vegas