The New York Times > Washington > Bremer Critique on Iraq Raises Political Furor

"Mr. Kerry said, 'Commander in chief means you have to make judgments that protect the troops and accomplish the mission. I would listen to all of my advisers and make the best judgment possible. I can tell you this: General Shinseki asked for more troops, and he was fired. So that's a surefire way to chill a lot of other people from asking for things later.'

General Eric K. Shinseki, then Army chief of staff, testified before the war that hundreds of thousands of troops [ I remember this as 500,000 -- BL ] would be needed in Iraq afterward; he was contradicted by other Pentagon officials. General Shinseki was not fired but had difficult relations with the Pentagon's civilian leadership and was pushed into retiring at the end of his four-year term in 2003."

I blogged this the other day. Good to see that the NY Times can do it, too.