Gullible war planners did not expect insurgency

A former general admits that, in spite of warnings from the State Department, he and other planners of the Iraq war were surprised at the guerilla uprising against the US occupation, because they took the word of Iraqi exiles who were advocating for the invasion.

One of the nation's top generals during the invasion of Iraq (news - web sites) said Thursday that the insurgency took U.S. military leaders by surprise because they believed the assurances of Iraqi opposition groups and defectors that American forces would be welcomed.

Gen. John Keane, who served as the Army's vice chief of staff during the war and who has since retired, told the House Armed Services Committee: "We did not see it coming. And we were not properly prepared and organized to deal with it. . . . Many of us got seduced by the Iraqi exiles in terms of what the outcome would be."

Keane said an insurgency in Iraq after the end of major combat was discussed during months of war planning but was not made a priority.

Testifying with Keane were two other retired Army officers, Col. Douglas Macgregor, who left the service last month, and Maj. Gen. Robert Scales.

All three retired officers portrayed an Army overtaxed by events in Iraq, as well as a National Guard and Reserve system bearing an unfair burden to support operations there and in Afghanistan.