John Spratt: “the aftermath of the war in Iraq has been marred by miscalculations and mistakes, made up for in many cases by our…”

“the aftermath of the war in Iraq has been marred by miscalculations and mistakes, made up for in many cases by our troops, who have filled the breach brilliantly by improvising, often doing duty for which they were never trained. You cannot go to Iraq and talk to our troops in the field and come home without saying to yourself, thank God there are such Americans. But their valiant efforts would have been more effective if the Pentagon had not ignored General Shinseki and deployed too few troops initially to secure the country and capitalize on our victory in battle. Their efforts would have been more effective if the Pentagon had not ignored General Garner and cashiered the entire Iraqi Army. Their efforts would have been more effective if we had moved much sooner to set up a representative government and stand up Iraqi security forces to whom we can ultimately and must ultimately hand over the responsibility for securing their own country. Before we disengage from Iraq, we have to do both of the above. I firmly believe that. We have to stand up security forces, and by that I mean police and border guards and the army, adequate to stabilize the country; and we have to steer the Iraqis through the shoals towards the adoption of a constitution and the election of a government under that constitution. We cannot leave any sooner without risking the collapse of Iraq into a fractious and bloody civil war which could very well require us to return. I believe that.…”