David H. Hackworth

Retired U.S. Army Colonel David H. Hackworth, according to his biography, had a "military career as a sailor, soldier and a military correspondent [which] has spanned nearly a dozen wars and conflicts, from the end of World War II to the ... meltdown in the ex-Yugoslavia.

"He sailed in the merchant marine at age 14 and the U.S. Army at 15. In almost 26 years in the Army he spent over seven years in combat theaters, winning a battlefield commission in Korea to become that war's youngest Army captain.

"After almost five years in Vietnam Hack's cup runneth over. In 1971, as the Army's youngest colonel he spoke out on national television saying, 'This is a bad war ... it can't be won we need to get out.' In that interview, he also said that the North Vietnamese flag would fly over Saigon in four years -- a prediction that turned out to be right on target. He was the only senior officer to sound off about the insanity of the war. Understandably, [then President] Richard Nixon and the Army weren't real happy with his shooting off his mouth."

"Hack is a regular guest on national radio and TV shows, and from 1990 to the end of 1996, he was Newsweek's contributing editor for defense. Besides his Newsweek cover stories and other reporting, he has been featured in magazines including People, Parade, Men's Journal, and has also been published in Playboy, Soldier of Fortune, Self and Modern Maturity. His column, Defending America, appears weekly in newspapers across America and on this site.

"During Operation Desert Storm which Hack covered for Newsweek, he was the only correspondent to accurately predict the outcome of the Gulf War. He has won many national and international awards for his Newsweek reporting, including the George Washington Honor Medal for excellence in communications."

"Hack is an advocate of military reform and a believer that the big fire power -- 'nuke-the-pukes' -- solution won't work anymore, but that doesn't mean war will go away. He sees big and little fights ahead and urges military reform. He believes passionately that "America needs a streamlined, hard hitting force for the 21st century" and beyond. Hack brings to his mission his unique experience acquired in almost 52 years of bouncing around hot and cold battlefields. He also brings an insider's view of the Pentagon and the military establishment made deadly current by input provided on a daily basis by serving warriors from around the globe. E-mail frequently brings him the word before the Pentagon gets it."

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War in Iraq

 * "The best way to fight a war is not to have to use arms, because of the incredible casualties, the incredible costs. There's another way to skin the cat, and my way of skinning the cat regarding Saddam Hussein, who is a brutal dude, is to contain him." November 16, 2004


 * "Should the president decide to stay the war course, hopefully at least a few of our serving top-uniformed leaders - those who are now covertly leaking that war with Iraq will be an unparalleled disaster - will do what many Vietnam-era generals wish they would have done: stand tall and publicly tell the America people the truth about another bad war that could well lead to another died-in-vain black wall. Or even worse.


 * "Because if GWB doesn't make sure we've battened down the home-front hatches before heading for Baghdad - which you can count on millions of Muslims viewing as an attack on the Islamic world - the invasion of Iraq will surely activate thousands of Arab kamikazes coiled like rattlesnakes, waiting to strike us from 'sea to shining sea'." November 26, 2002

See Operation Iraqi Freedom: Military and Political Dissent.