Posted on 06/09/2005 6:25:47 PM PDT by jmc1969
A senior US military chief has admitted "good, honest" Iraqis are fighting American forces.
Major General Joseph Taluto said he could understand why some ordinary people would take up arms against the US military because "they're offended by our presence".
In an interview with Gulf News, he said: "If a good, honest person feels having all these Humvees driving on the road, having us moving people out of the way, having us patrol the streets, having car bombs going off, you can understand how they could [want to fight us]."
His comments come in stark contrast to the assertions of other top US figures, who persist in claiming all insurgents are either Baathists or Al Qaida terrorists.
(Excerpt) Read more at gulf-news.com ...
First we have to ascertain if this guy exists and if he uttered those words.
It's the 1 out of 10 this article addresses, maybe even less.
Maybe they are good and honest, They are also stupid. The sooner the fighting stops the sooner we will be out of their hair. Dumb Bastids.
Right on that.
That kind of talk from a senior military official, directly to the press, should get him drummed out of the service pronto. There are military personel whose job is to liason with the civilian press.
By the looks of it, he was taken out of context.
We do not have the car bombs go off, General, the terrorists "have them" go off. This General needs some R & R badly. Send him to Alaska before his confusion gets more of our kids killed.
MG Joseph Taluto is listed as the Commanding General, 42d Infantry Division (NG). This is a Dubai media article and I consider it highly suspect until proven otherwise.
He still should know better.
Can't believe he has two stars on his shoulder.
More like 1 our of a 100. Intelligence types say that the non-hardcore terrorist folk are usually low-lifes or the really desperate trying to cash in.
It's hard to imagine many honest but misguided nationalists falling in with that crowd.
Contrast this with the Biden article that talks about insurgents. What the heck is going on...and who is telling stories?
Maybe Major General Joseph Taluto is tired of the burden of command already. I'd find some papers for him to shuffle somewhere. We need Division Commanders that will fire the troops up, not tell them that the guys trying to kill them are "good and honest" folks.
"Do you men want to grovel on your face to Allah five times a day? Do you want you wife or your mother to wear a burka? Do you want your kids kowtowing to some Arab mullah? If you don't then you better kill your enemies fast and furious because they sure want to kill you and take what's yours!"
That's what they need to hear.
A LOT of senior career military officers were quietly forced into retirement after Clinton took office to clear the ranks for those with the more "proper" viewpoints. And it shows.
I think you're right. This guy has never commanded a combat unit above company level until pinning on a star and he's never served outside of NY state until now, according to his bio.
Bottom line, assuming he is actually being quoted accurately in this article- Since he was recalled from retirement, He'll never see a third star and serve as the Chief, Army National Guard (the only 3 star ARNG post available) and he knows it. Hillary and the majority of the NY electorate will protect and encourage him to speak out in the meantime. From his viewpoint he's in a no lose situation to say what he wants or say what is fed to him for alterior motives. Conjecture on my part, but plausible, unfortunately.
LOL! Don't be ridiculous. No matter what you say, your words will be twisted into some anti-American comment. The media hack's mental filter does it automatically.
We need warriors, and warriors with a lot of overseas experience at that. There must be plenty of them in the sytem. Why are they playing at this?
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