Army publishes criticism of war

President Bush lashed out at his Democratic critics.
combined dispatches
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- A senior British officer has written a scathing critique of the U.S. Army and its performance in Iraq, accusing it of cultural ignorance, moralistic self-righteousness, unproductive micromanagement and unwarranted optimism there.
His publisher: the U.S. Army.
In an article published this week in the Army magazine Military Review, British Brig. Nigel Aylwin-Foster, who was deputy commander of a program to train the Iraqi military, said American officers in Iraq displayed such "cultural insensitivity" that it "arguably amounted to institutional racism" and may have spurred the growth of the insurgency. The Army has been slow to adapt its tactics, he argues, and its approach during the early stages of the occupation "exacerbated the task it now faces by alienating significant sections of the population."
The decision by the Army magazine to publish the essay -- which already has provoked an intense reaction among American officers -- is part of a broader self-examination occurring in many parts of the Army as it approaches the end of its third year of fighting in Iraq.
'Irresponsible debate'
Meanwhile, President Bush on Tuesday criticized what he called "irresponsible debate" in the United States over the war in Iraq, as he forecast more political progress but also "more tough fighting." He also called on Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq to end sectarian divisions, and for Sunnis to cease their insurgency and participate in the nascent political life there.
Reserving some of his harshest language for the war's critics at home, the president, in what amounted to a call for a lower-decibel debate argued within restricted territory, called on critics to stop questioning the motives that led him to launch the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
"The American people know the difference between responsible and irresponsible debate when they see it. ... And they know the difference between a loyal opposition that points out what is wrong, and defeatists who refuse to see that anything is right," Bush said.
"I ask all Americans to hold their elected leaders to account and demand a debate that brings credit to our democracy -- not comfort to our adversaries," Bush said.
Kennedy responds
In response, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said it was the White House that had twisted the Iraq debate by attacking critics and sidelining a general and a White House economic aide who had offered pre-war predictions that the invasion would require more troops and money than the administration estimated.
"I wholeheartedly agree with President Bush about the need for accountability in the debate on the war in Iraq," Kennedy said in a statement. He said the administration has been "firing or ignoring those who spoke the truth about Iraq, and rewarding those who manipulated the facts and were so obviously wrong about the war."