Recently retired three-star Army General Ricardo Sanchez "says the United States can forget about winning the war." He's no mere conference-room commando: Sanchez actually commanded U.S. forces during the Iraq war's first year. He said:
"I think if we do the right things politically and economically with the right Iraqi leadership we could still salvage at least a stalemate, if you will - not a stalemate but at least stave off defeat...." (AFP/Truthout)
This rather bleak assessment came 4 years after President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished." Sanchez continued:
"We've got to do whatever we can to help the next generation of leaders do better than we have done over the past five years, better than what this cohort of political and military leaders have done." (AFP/Truthout)
Sanchez is not the only high-ranking former military official to imply that Bush has failed in Iraq (AP/Army Times). As of today, 3,500 Americans have died in Iraq, and 25,000+ have been wounded (CNN). The war's costs now reportedly exceed $430 billion (about six times Florida's annual budget).
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