The president was cautious the president was prudent the president did what a commander in chief should do. No matter how you try to blame it on the president the actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there. Did they search carefully enough? Didn’t they search carefully enough?
— Rudolph Giuliani (October 28, 2004)
Amazing. Right wing pundits are criticizing Kerry for blaming the troops (when, in fact he’s blaming the Bush administration). But it’s OK for Giuliani to actually blame the troops for the Bush administration’s failures.
Here’s Wesley Clark’s response:
For President Bush to send Rudolph Giuliani out on television to say that the “actual responsibility” for the failure to secure explosives lies with the troops is insulting and cowardly.
The President approved the mission and the priorities. Civilian leaders tell military leaders what to do. The military follows those orders and gets the job done. This was a failure of civilian leadership, first in not telling the troops to secure explosives and other dangerous materials, and second for not providing sufficient troops and sufficient equipment for troops to do the job.
President Bush sent our troops to war without sufficient body armor, without a sound plan and without sufficient forces to accomplish the mission. Our troops are performing a difficult mission with skill, bravery and determination. They deserve a commander in chief who supports them and understands that the buck stops in the Oval Office, not one who gets weak knees and shifts blame for his mistakes.
— Wesley Clark (October 28, 2004)