Let’s see here… Sanchez, who didn’t manage to get the job done, is now the spokesman for the Dems who really don’t think it can or should get done in the first place.

While David Petraeus, who IS getting the job done is slimed by those same Dems as a traitor.

No wonder people laugh at the idea that Democrats should have anything to do with American defense and foreign policy.

This will be the new Democrat Party talking points. And Sanchez will be the new rising star of the Democrat Party. Bank on it, kids.

Sanchez authored the strategy of pulling Coalition troops into large, exclusive base camps, breaking off the operational plan that had troops operating from regiment and battalion sized forward operating bases scattered throughout the country, closely interacting with the Iraqi people.

This insulated the population from the troops, bred distrust and gave fertile ground in which Al Queda and sectarian militias sprang up and spread terror among the population, further exacerbating the situation.

Now, who, politically speaking, had the most to gain from that strategy?

And before our resident leftards hop in, yes. Our casualties would have been higher with the embedded type strategy. Sanchez’s consolidation strategy was solely intended to minimize casualties, at the expense of making us appear as aloof and disdainful, two traits that did, in point of fact, make cooperation and teamwork with the Iraqi people far more difficult. The Officers and senior NCOs of the US and British military forces overcame this imposed handicap and worked with the Iraqis, gaining their trust, in spite of Sanchez and his Command Staff’s ineptitude and recalcitrance.
And to further forestall our militarily ignorant children, yes. The other members of the Coalition, Poles, Czechs, Spaniards and Japanese stepped into the breach created by the segregation strategy enforced under the command of Gen Sanchez.

the Democrats are pushing their plan because they feel Iraq is a lost cause.

The Democratic Party is a lost cause! (Having surrendered to special interests long ago!) Hence, they see everything through their world view!

I think you guys are being a bit tough on Sanchez.

There are really two differing viewpoints on long-term troop commitment, and it’s really not clear which is better. We leave our troops there indefinitely, and the Iraqis never learn to stand on their own. We remove them too soon, and we create chaos (like yanking the cane out of the hand of somebody recuperating from a knee injury). Timing is everything here.

It’s unfortunate that he’s allowing himself to be used to a degree by the Democrats, but I think he probably sees this in a “bigger view” sort of way: As an opportunity to spark debate over when the withdraw should proceed.

And really, the more they have Sanchez talk the more he undercuts the “we’ve lost, it’s time to leave” Democratic mantra, so I’m all for hearing what the guy has to say. Rob is entirely right that the theme of his message doesn’t support Democratic rhetoric on this war.