WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- On the heels of the stunning revelation that America’s intelligence community has concluded that the war in Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism, the Democratic Policy Committee will hold an oversight hearing on planning and conduct of the War in Iraq TODAY, September 25, at 1:30 PM. Among those scheduled to testify are Major General John R.S. Batiste, U.S. Army (Ret.); Major General Paul D. Eaton, U.S. Army (Ret.); and Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, USMC (Ret.). The Committee is holding these hearings because the Republican-controlled standing committees in Congress have failed to do meaningful oversight of the planning and conduct of the war.
The hearing will be broadcast live over the internet, and a link to the video may be found at http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/. Streaming audio and video will also be available online at the same address after the hearing. More detailed information will follow post-hearing in a full actuality advisory.
The Generals’ testimony, as prepared, will include:
“Losing one American life due to incompetent war planning and preparation is absolutely unacceptable. The work to remove Saddam Hussein and his regime was a challenge, but it pales in comparison to the hard work required to build the peace. The detailed deliberate planning to finish the job in Iraq was not considered as Secretary Rumsfeld forbade military planners from developing plans for securing a post-war Iraq. At one point, he threatened to fire the next person who talked about the need for a post-war plan. Our country and incredible military were not set up for success.” – Major General John R.S. Batiste, U.S. Army (Retired)
“The leadership that has led us to this point fails today to understand the strategic planning requirements to solve the Iraqi dilemma, stating essentially that their strategy is to stand up Iraqi Security Forces and to withdraw U.S. forces. Stay the course is not a strategy.” – Major General Paul D. Eaton, U.S. Army (Retired)
“Since World War II, America has prided itself on providing whatever its servicemen and women needed to get the job done. In this war, we have not. Our procurement has not only been slow, we have failed to buy the best available. Further, the administration has categorically failed to maintain or replace the equipment necessary for the units in the United States to be ready for other potential operations.” – Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, U.S. Army (Retired)
Details follow:
· WHO: Senators: DPC Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND); Senate
Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL); Charles Schumer (D-NY), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Mark Dayton (D-MN) and others.
Witnesses: Major General John R.S. Batiste, U.S. Army (Ret.), who was senior military assistant to then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and commander of the 1st Infantry Division, serving in Iraq in 2004 and 2005; Major General Paul D. Eaton, U.S. Army (Ret.), who was responsible for training the Iraqi military from May 2003 to March 2004, and for rebuilding the Iraqi police force from March through June 2004; Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, USMC (Ret.), who served in Iraq in 2004 and was responsible for establishing bases for the newly reconstituted Iraqi armed forces.
· WHAT: Senate Democratic Policy Committee oversight hearing on planning and conduct of the war in Iraq.
· WHEN: 1:30 PM, Monday, September 25, 2006
· WHERE: 138 Dirksen Senate Office Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC
· WHY: To conduct congressional oversight of planning and conduct of the war in Iraq.
Monday, September 25, 2006
They Hold Hearings
Since the news networks are continuing in their longstanding Operation Ignore Democrats I'm going to try to increase my commitment to actually covering what they do. You can watch here at 1:30.