National Security

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez served as Commander of the Coalition Forces in Iraq from June, 2003 to June, 2004. Without a doubt, this was some of the most difficult time of the war effort and a period during which many now acknowledge mistakes were made. The dismantling of the Iraqi Republican Guard has widely been criticized. Although many were calling for more troops, Sanchez and the Administration maintained the force numbers were adequate. Today, of course, with the surge more troops have been sent to the field with reports of progress. Although Saddam Hussein was captured during Sanchez's command, the most sensational event of Sanchez's tenure will remain the Abu Ghraib scandal.  

Sanchez was replaced in 2004 by Gen. George Casey who held the top field job until being replaced by Gen. David Petreaus last year. Sanchez coveted a promotion by the President for his fourth star, but the Administration balked likely because of the uproar over Abu Ghraib. Even though Sanchez was never implicated directly in the scandal, a promotion would have stoked the global outrage even more than had already occurred. Effectively, Sanchez was forced out and he retired in 2006.  

Until recently, Sanchez had seemed pretty much the "good soldier". Now, he's become a harsh critic of everyone and everything in sight. Regrettably, Sanchez has forsaken "duty, honor, country" in exchange for a desperate effort to defend his reputation that he perceives was damaged. Lashing out at a press conference he orchestrated on October 12, Sanchez blasted the Bush Administration and Pentagon for a "catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan." Those were some of the nicest things he said. 

As a Member of Congress during his command, I attended briefings by Sanchez. I have to wonder why he chose to offer his observations and criticism now rather than when he could have actually done something about it as the Commanding General. Even if not always openly supportive, his silence said as much. 

Sanchez knows that the only possible beneficiary of his critical purging is himself. And, that is what is so disappointing, because selfishness has no place in a soldier's life. In addition to his press conference outburst, he's considering a book, so expect to see him on the television self-promotion circuit soon, too. 

Assume for the sake of argument that Sanchez's criticisms are right on the mark. Who is the better for it? Does he make our troops safer and save lives by creating more dissention? Does he make a positive strategic impact on the war by publicly trashing Petreaus, or Defense Secretary Gates, or President Bush? Does he likely improve the chances of victory? Or, though he didn't say it, if his objective is to get the troops out, will this tactic accomplish anything? 

Nobody likes to get pulled from the field and benched. And, Sanchez took a lot of heat as did Bush, Rumsfeld, Ambassador Paul Bremmer, and just about everybody connected with the war during that period and since. Critics far outnumber the few charged with making decisions and executing the mission. 

Maybe Sanchez is trying to take a page out of Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark's play book. Perhaps like Clark he thinks he can parlay anti-Bush anti-war criticism into a television talking-head career or even politics. Maybe Sanchez is betting a Democrat wins the White House in 2008 and he's campaigning for a cabinet spot. Maybe he'll show up as a candidate for the House or Senate, following in the road map of Jim Webb in Virginia. Could Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer be the promoters of Sanchez's need to go public? Who knows? 

What we do know is he shows no class. Jake Plummer was far more professional when Mike Shanahan benched him and ended his career with the Broncos. And, the White House showed far more class by simply stating of Sanchez that, "We appreciate his service to the country."