Bush Failed to Supoort the Troops

‘There simply aren’t enough troops’
A retired general says higher-ups let soldiers down and the U.S. is playing ‘a shell game.’
By Noam Levey, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON | A retired senior general who commanded an infantry division in the conflict said Monday that requests by commanders in Iraq for more soldiers were repeatedly turned down.

“Many of us routinely asked for more troops,” retired Maj. Gen. John R.S. Batiste said, a claim contradicting statements by President Bush and his senior aides that the administration has given the military all the resources it has asked for.

“There simply aren’t enough troops there to accomplish the task,” said Batiste, who has previously called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign.

“It’s a shell game we’re playing in Iraq, and we’ve been doing it since Day 1. And we’re still doing it today.”

The general’s remarks, echoed by two other retired soldiers Monday, came at a special hearing called by Democratic senators as part of what they said would be an initiative to increase oversight of the war effort.