Saturday, October 20, 2012

When You Find Yourself In A Hole, Stop Digging

So says General Tommy Franks as he endorsed Mitt Romney.
From jsonline:
Retired Army General Tommy Franks has a simple answer about why he’s backing Republican Mitt Romney for president.
“We only got two choices,” Franks said Saturday during a telephone interview from Green Bay, where he addressed the Big 10 VFW Conference. “We can stay with what we’ve got or we can make a change … When you find yourself in a hole stop digging.”
Franks is among more than 300 retired officers who comprise Romney’s “military advisory council.” Franks led U.S. Central Command and oversaw the U.S. response in Afghanistan and Iraq after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
“I’m a pretty serious independent,” Franks said, noting that Bill Clinton gave him his promotion to general and that he served under George W. Bush.
In explaining why he seeks change, Franks said, “I think our troopers and military and veterans deserve to have the best equipment in the world, best manpower, best training in the world. They deserve respect and love at home and they deserve to be feared abroad. It seems to me that is what military leadership is all about. It seems to me leadership comes from the front, not the back.”
He said in Iraq, the Obama administration failed to “get the status of forces agreement that would have eased transition from our forces, our security, to the Iraqi forces and security. The result of that was a knee jerk, a snap reaction to the (U.S.) forces leaving.”
Franks faulted the administration for announcing a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
“I’m not a fan almost anywhere of announcing to the enemy of what I’m going to do … if you put it in very simplistic terms that is what we have done,” he said. “By announcing date certain there is a theory that will force our friends to take their destiny. Maybe there is a value in that argument. Downside, it also tells our enemies what we’ll do and allows them to plan for our intended actions.”
On last month’s attack in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, including the ambassador, Franks said it was important to gather all of the details.
“I would side with President (Barack) Obama in saying we ought not to announce whose fault it is and we ought not to say what we’re going to do about it until we get enough information,” he said.
But Franks faulted the administration’s handling of the Benghazi issue.
“I describe it as feckless,” he said, as he urged the president to “stand up, here is who I am, here is what I said, and not all of it went well. I’m still waiting for the president to make this statement.”  http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/175073331.html
Can't improve on what the General said.

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