Jim Ramstad: “the President has said for more than 4 years that he would follow the advice of his commanders on the ground with…”

“the President has said for more than 4 years that he would follow the advice of his commanders on the ground with respect to troop levels in Iraq. That is why I am both surprised and disappointed the President did not follow the advice given as recently as 2 months ago by the Army and Marine Corps Chiefs of Staff, as well as General John Abizaid, General George Casey, and General Colin Powell. All of these highly respected commanders expressed their opposition to increasing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. As General Abizaid, the top commander in the Middle East said, an increase in U.S. troops would be counterproductive because it will perpetuate the dependency of Iraqi forces, create more targets and stretch our military too thin. ... It will only further delay Iraqis taking control of their own security. That is from General Colin Powell, who also noted that he had not heard any generals on the ground in Iraq ask for more troops.”