The Herald’s May 12 editorial “Rumsfeld isn’t solely to blame for failures,” places full responsibility for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners on President Bush. This is followed by the litany of all the mistakes and poor planning of the war that are repeatedly alleged by Democrat politicians. The editorial concludes by ostensibly urging voters to defeat the president this fall.
I agree that the prisoner abuse casts a terrible reflection on America and cannot be excused by the horrific atrocities committed by our enemy. But the abuse was instituted by a few ignorant degenerates who lacked proper training and supervision by the incompetent commander of their military police brigade. It is a far stretch to blame the president for all the acts of individual soldiers.
It is also a far stretch to engage in hindsight to establish blame for events that are cherry-picked as mistakes. No war ever took place that arm-chair quarterbacks could not have waged better. Those who objected to the war predicted a long campaign with thousands of American casualties. In hindsight, should President Bush be applauded because this did not happen?
It is simplistic and dishonest for political opponents to engage in criticism of events based on hypothetical outcomes. History shows that wars are highly unpredictable. It is impossible to control all eventualities: the prisoner abuse was one of those.
SHIRLEY JOHNSON
Darrington
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