I found this on the web and I think it is appropriate on the 4 year anniversary. General Shinseki and others in the Pentagon fought Donald Rumsfeld on troop levels. Now, that we are in the middle of a “Surge” 4 years after the start of the war and our 3rd or 4th General in charge of Iraq, I can say with great confidence that Eric Shinseki was 100% correct. As Afghanistan is beginning to fall into more chaos, I can say that Donald Rumsfeld was wrong. He was wrong about almost everything.

General Shinseki should get the Presidential Medal of Freedom for standing up for what he knew was right. He should probably get Tommy Frank’s medal.

Finally, I believe that General Abizaid was a smart, thoughtful general who was caught in the crossfire. I think that he had a plan to stabilize the region but never got the civilian backing that he needed.