NEW YORK (AFP) - Senior US war planners have accused Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of "micromanaging" operations in Iraq (news - web sites) and ignoring recommendations from military officials.
"He thought he knew better. He was the decision-maker at every turn," one senior planner told the New Yorker magazine, in its edition to be released Monday.
Planners with the Joint Chiefs of Staff had recommended deploying four or more Army divisions, which Rumsfeld rejected, the report said.
Their plan also called for shipping by sea hundreds of tanks and other heavy vehicles -- enough for three or four divisions -- in advance, but Rumsfeld chose to rely on equipment already in Kuwait, which was enough for one division, the report said.
After Turkey's parliament shocked war planners by refusing to allow tens of thousands of US troops to enter Iraq from Turkish soil, General Tommy Franks, head of US Central Command, had argued for delaying the war until those forces could enter from another route, it said.
But a former intelligence official said Rumsfeld "overruled him."
"This is tragic. American lives are being lost," one senior planner told the magazine.
Another former intelligence official accused Syria and Turkey of working together "to screw us in the north -- to cause us problems... Syria and the Iranians agreed that they could not let an American occupation of Iraq stand."
If there's one guy in the whole scheme of things that I dont care much for.....It's Rumsfeld. I know I dont know him personally, but from wathching him on television roughly 50 times.....I just dont know if I'm too sure about him.
"He thought he knew better. He was the decision-maker at every turn," one senior planner told the New Yorker magazine, in its edition to be released Monday.
Planners with the Joint Chiefs of Staff had recommended deploying four or more Army divisions, which Rumsfeld rejected, the report said.
Their plan also called for shipping by sea hundreds of tanks and other heavy vehicles -- enough for three or four divisions -- in advance, but Rumsfeld chose to rely on equipment already in Kuwait, which was enough for one division, the report said.
After Turkey's parliament shocked war planners by refusing to allow tens of thousands of US troops to enter Iraq from Turkish soil, General Tommy Franks, head of US Central Command, had argued for delaying the war until those forces could enter from another route, it said.
But a former intelligence official said Rumsfeld "overruled him."
"This is tragic. American lives are being lost," one senior planner told the magazine.
Another former intelligence official accused Syria and Turkey of working together "to screw us in the north -- to cause us problems... Syria and the Iranians agreed that they could not let an American occupation of Iraq stand."
If there's one guy in the whole scheme of things that I dont care much for.....It's Rumsfeld. I know I dont know him personally, but from wathching him on television roughly 50 times.....I just dont know if I'm too sure about him.
