No sooner made public, the Baker-Hamilton advisory Commission’s report on the war in Iraq is violently criticized by the superior officers. Stars and Stripes, the United-Stator armed forces’ internal daily paper, let several generals speak and condemn all the the Commission’s conclusions. According to them, the report illustrates a politico-economic will to put an end to the crisis, but does not take into account military realities on the ground.

The Commission suggests the withdrawal of 150 000 men by the end of 2008, leaving 20 000 adviser to train the Iraqi forces. With regard to the Vietnamese experience, the generals assert that the process of the conflict iraqisation supposes a many years’ preliminary training of the national forces. According to them, in case of a hasty withdrawalof GI’s, the insurgents would not hesitate to attack the US advisers, and the Iraqi army would not be able to handle the situation. It would be the surest recipe for a " national humiliation ".

The staff, which leaned on the Democratic Party to get Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation , persists in asking for more men and means to pursue the war, without budgetary limits. For the Senator John McCain, it’s time to " put out all the stops": "There is only a thing worser than exhausted infantry and navies: Infantry and navies defeated ".