Posted on 05/26/2004 5:06:36 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
The latest retired general to voice his concerns over the strategy to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq has been Anthony Zinni. Naturally, the good general has co-authored a book with (surprise!) Tom Clancy, criticizing the war with Iraq. The anti-Semitic undercurrent of the general’s interview on 60 minutes is discussed at length in Richard Baehr’s excellent piece in The American Thinker. Most Americans know that Gen. Zinni was the former Commanding General of CENTCOM, but few know his previous military background in that theater of operations, nor do they completely understand his current political leanings on the subject of conflict and war.
Gen. Zinni had been Deputy Commanding General for Operation Provide Comfort, immediately after Gulf War I. But his first command in the region was as the I Marine Expeditionary Force Commander assigned to execute Operation UNITED SHIELD, which was USCENTCOM’s operation to withdraw all UN forces from Somalia in January 1995. By this time, all US forces had already withdrawn under orders from President Clinton and overseen by the CENTCOM commander, Marine Gen. Hoar (retired Gen. Hoar has also come out against Operation Iraqi Freedom).
In August 1997, Gen. Zinni assumed command of CENTCOM. During his command, the following major actions occurred in theater:
- Provided disaster relief to victims of flooding in Kenya.
- The U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Tanzania were bombed by terrorists; USCENTCOM responded to the bombings by conducting cruise missile strikes against aspirin factories and nearly deserted terrorist camps of Osama Bin Laden.
- The U.S.S. Cole was bombed in Aden by al Qaeda. The rules of engagement in force under General Zinni's command enabled the terrorists to approach the Cole close enough to kill our sailors and critically damage the ship.
- In December 1998, USCENTCOM launched Operation DESERT FOX which was a four-day operation theoretically to delay development of weapons of mass destruction, and to disrupt or destroy Iraq’s national command and control nodes.
- Gen. Zinni oversaw the large-scale, yet routine Bright Star Exercise, which can trace its origin to the early 80s Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF).
- Conducted “engagement” operations (whatever that means) with the recently independent Central Asian states of the Former Soviet Union.
So, it appears that Gen. Zinni and CENTCOM had become very proficient at troop withdrawals, disaster relief, and shooting cruise missiles at empty tents. To be fair, Gen. Zinni was but the last in line of three CENTCOM commanders (the others being Hoar and Peay), who were essentially outmaneuvered by Iran. Even worse, they allowed a build-up of Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa. These moves were countered by nothing stronger than the strategies of withdrawal (Somalia), shows of force, and the ever-popular but widely misunderstood concept of “engagement.”
But Gen. Zinni’s current affiliations are even more interesting, given his severe criticism of the President’s actions in the War on Terror and the liberation of Iraq. It seems the General is a Distinguished Military Fellow on the Washington, D.C. staff of the Center for Defense Information www.cdi.org. The mission statement for this organization is:
dedicated to strengthening security through: international cooperation; reduced reliance on unilateral military power [emphasis mine] to resolve conflict; reduced reliance on nuclear weapons; a transformed and reformed military establishment; and, prudent oversight of, and spending on, defense programs.
A quick glance of the list of people on CDI’s Board of Advisors includes such great military thinkers and left wing activists and donors as:
- Ben Cohen - Founder, Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., South Burlington, Vt.
- Paul Newman - Motion Pictures, Los Angeles, Calif.
- Joanne Woodward - Actress-Director, Westport, Conn.
An assessment of CDI during the height of the Cold War highlighted its founding and core philosophy:
Formed in 1973 as a project of the tax-exempt Fund for Peace(FFP). CDI and its sister FFP projects - the Center for National Security Studies(CNSS) and the Center for International Policy(CIP) - are spin-offs from projects initiated by the Institute for Policy Studies(IPS), the Washington-based , internationally active revolutionary think-tank.
CDI’s military members include former military officers, intelligence officers and academics who share attitudes of harsh antagonism toward the U.S. national defense, the U.S. military, the NATO alliance and American foreign policy.
CDI’s former military officers were frequently quoted by the Soviet propaganda organs to legitimize their attacks on NATO and U.S. defense forces as trigger-happy dangers to peace. Although CDI states it "supports a strong defense but opposes excessive expenditures or forces," it has opposed every major new U.S. weapons system developed during the past two decades - from the B-1 bomber and Trident submarine to cruise missiles, neutron warheads, and stealth bomber - as upsetting the U.S.-Soviet strategic balance while at the same time minimizing the Soviet military buildup.
To this day, CDI maintains an office in Moscow, Russia staffed by a Mr. Ivan Safranchuk, who is described as a “well-known nuclear analyst in Russia.” The purpose of the Moscow CDI office is to provide “the Russian media and public with independent, unfiltered information about U.S.-Russian security relations, from nuclear policy to NATO environmental issues.”
This begs the question: What would motivate a retired four-star Marine general to join such an organization as this?
That retired Gen. Zinni would fall in with this bunch makes perfect sense after a stint at CENTCOM that included half-measures against Saddam’s regime and disaster relief operations as his claim to fame. It’s a shame that he can’t see the failure of the false policy of containment and sanctions that were right in his own backyard, but it’s a scandal that his critique of the current war can’t get beyond the subtle anti-Semitic complaints against people who actually wanted to take action to solve the problem.
His actions demonstrate that he is in perfect company with Richard Clarke and Joe Wilson.
Wasn't he the guy helping Jane put flowers in those rifles back in the Nam?
What channel were you watching? Watching the affable Eva Braun of Morning Television perhaps?
Zinni is a shill for Paul Newman. Those are the facts. Why don't we let Paul speak for himself, or see him try to get elected any time soon.
"I also know that Sean Hannity had him twisted in knots the other night on TV after one simple statement."
Details?
Perhaps he was referring to the Liberty.
"Sean that hit him with the right cross after Zinni said it was all lies and distortions by the Bush Neocons. Baddabing!"
A few years ago, Sean was a real crappy host.
He's really grown into his job the last 2 years, though, and is now a pretty good broadcaster.
One of the interesting aspects of the USS Cole bombing that was hiden by the mainstream mediots was the connection of Occidental Petroleum to the unnecessary refueling of the Cole in Yemen.
Who was Vice President at that time? What VP at that time and his father as a US Senator had a long $ relationship with Oxy Pete.
The link below will take you to some interesting articles re Oxy Pete owning the refueling center in Yemen where the USS Cole was bombed.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?x=op&va=USS+Cole+Occidental+Petroleum+Yemen&va_vt=any&vst=0&vd=all&fl=0&vf=all&ei=ISO-8859-1&vm=p&n=20
WOW, is that an eye opener. Someone ought to send a copy of that to Clancy.
CDI. I'm sure it's a nonprofit. (Oh yes, of course, it's a 501(c)3, according to it's own website on Google search)I'm so tired of these subversive 501(c) whatevers that seem intent on destroying our country while raking in the money. We need real reform and oversight of these institutions or just get rid of them.
Whos the "WE" Gene.. At least half the "WE"(in the U.S.) are as great a bunch of malafactors as ever has been assembled. Call them democrats but there are many groups in league with the democrats that are variants of the same malfeasance. Isreal would wise to tread carefully in dealing with the U.S.... America is broken, fractured, and polarized according to plan. Its extremely important to know who your dealing with in America, especially in geo-political politics.
Money is the root of all evil some say. Most people don't even know what "money" is. Money is NOT currency. Thats why its the root all evil. Marx and Lenin knew what money is and developed a system to steal it all. Why is it that people don't know what money is ?.. A simple concept very skillfully hidden.. DO you think thats money in your billfold ?
I spent eight years in the Corps. General al-Zinni is an embarrassment.
They immediately go away.
Frankly: I'm beginning to suspect some sort of connection. :)
Zinni's association with CDI should automatically disqualify him from appearing on any objective news program. As informed a person as I am, I had no idea of this association until I read this thread. CDI and IPS are dangerous Marxist organizations. They have managed to buy off a few of our ex-military men to give them a veneer of respectability on defense issues, but they are hard-core Marxist groups.
Nobody else has brought this up, so I will. A good friend of mine is a former Air Force general who flew in the first Gulf War and most recently commanded an air wing at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia before it was closed. He told us many stories about how dozens of colonels and generals in all the services quit during the Clinton years. He got promoted to Colonel and General very fast because the Air Force was running out of officers. As a result, I am very suspicious of anyone like Zinni who must have sold out to the Clintons to get the big job as CENTCOM commander. He probably thought he was going to be Joint Chiefs Chairman if Al Gore was elected. He may have a giant ax to grind with Bush. And I'm sure it didn't help that Bush dumped him as Mideast envoy, probably when he found out about the Pakistani deal that was described in the earlier post.
The article that you posted lists all of the activities at CENTCOM in which Zinni was involved.
I'm still waiting, of course, for whatever whitewash is going to be presented by the Zinnites, inevitably, re: the utterly damning CDI revelation; the topic which I HAVE specifically singled out, repeatedly. Will it be forthcoming at any point in the immediate future, do you suppose?
I'm not going there,Dobie !
Ah, I'm sure you have some hair-raising Boot Camp Commando stories for us !
Read "The Sum of All Fears" if you want insight into Clancy as it pertains to Israel, Zionism and the Palestinians.
Clancy is a anti-semite.
Perhaps, but one thing is certain, unlike you...I actually have a Parris Island story.
Tell us how you earned the coveted "POU" Award !
Mama: Zinni has said-on the record- " I like President Bush." He has expressed no interest in supporting Kerry,and gives the impression he does not like the man.
Zinni's quarrel is NOT with Pres.Bush, but with some of
the President's advisers.
The kind of vitriol being circulated about Zinni comes from : Guess where ? Those same advisers ?
Must be those sneaky neocons again. ;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.