U.S. General's Ignorance a 'Failure of the American Mind'

General John Batiste in 2003: From March 2001 to June 2002, he worked on war planning with Paul Wolfowitz. In spring 2002, former Army chief Eric Shinseki chose Batiste to command the Army's First Infantry Division, which was deployed to Iraq in December 2003.

U.S. General's Ignorance a 'Failure of the American Mind'
Azzaman, Iraq
By Fatih Abdulsalam
Translated by Nicolas Dagher
July 3, 2007


The American General who spearheaded the invasion of Iraq and commanded an armored division here before his retirement has become a constant critic of this war. His change of heart is just a useless and belated confession of the mistakes that have robbed Americans of a portion of their peace of mind. And if support for the failed policies and politicians that have brought about these failures continues, what remains of their peace of mind may also be lost.

These parties and politicians have triggered a catastrophe in this country, including a refugee crisis for millions, rivaling or even surpassing the Palestinian refugee crisis of 1948.

That name of that former general is John Batiste , who has concluded that “Historically, armed forces in the (Middle East) region have been perpetually ineffective due to social factors deeply rooted in Arab culture, to include secrecy and paranoia, pride, class differences, an inability to coordinate, and no individual freedom or initiative." One wonders what the retired general's sources were when he gave this testimony to the U.S. House Foreign Relations Committee.

It is obvious that what he said has absolutely nothing to do with the military, is totally arbitrary, is extremely irresponsible and shows his complete ignorance of Arab culture, which is absolutely not based on paranoia and pride. Had we applied these standards to the handful of theorists that launched the Iraq War, we would find that it is they who are submerged in pride and megalomania and that it is they who failed to recognize their mistakes and their historic responsibility for this war. Now as the official number of American deaths approaches 4,000 and with the U.S. Congress and American people tired of being enmeshed in an un-winnable war, top U.S. military figures have finally begun to speak out.


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be the target. The writer sounds disgusted and hopeless. Too little, too late?