Representative Heather Wilson: “There has been a lot of carping in the last few days about plans and a lot of criticism from folks who have not seen the…”

“There has been a lot of carping in the last few days about plans and a lot of criticism from folks who have not seen the plan and have not been briefed on the plan, do not know what the plan is but they are critical of it, and others who say, oh, well, you did not anticipate this in your plan. There is a quote I remember once from General Eisenhower. He said, ``Planning is indispensable because it gives you something from which to deviate.'' Any commander worth his salt will plan well and then will react to what is going on on the battlefield. I would be concerned if our commanders were sticking slavishly to a plan and not reacting to the things that were going on around them. The point is not the plan. The plan allows people to think through the potential problems. You cannot anticipate all of them, but they have done pretty well. And when they have not anticipated, they have relied on the ingenuity of the American soldiers to sort it out and their good commanders to give them the resources they need to get the job done.”