It was a former General, Colin Powell, a person with unquestioned credibility, who went before the United Nations and made accusations against Saddam Hussein that later proved to be false.  After the facts were known, Colin Powell faded into history with a "blot" on his record.  Colin Powell blamed the low-level intelligence analysts for his failed speech.

As Rep. Wexler notes, General Westmoreland gave the American people much of the same in 1967 when America was escalating our forces during Vietnam.  General Westmoreland's command of forces in Vietnam ended in 1968; just one year after telling America how rosy Vietnam was going.  General Westmoreland, in his memoirs, blamed the South Vietnamese and President Johnson for the failure in Vietnam.

Remember General Tommy Franks?  He "retired" in July, 2003, just four months after the invasion of Iraq.  Here is how Fox News reported the event:  

Rumsfeld credited Franks with changing the original war plan for ousting Saddam Hussein after the Bush administration took a chance and launched bombs on a location where the deposed leader was expected to be meeting with other Iraqi officials.

Rumsfeld said "Tom Franks is truly a soldier's soldier" with a "deep loyalty to his troops and country."

Franks told the crowd to be sure to remember the 300-some U.S. soldiers who have died during the global war on terror. Those deaths remind us "that freedom isn't free," Franks said.

"The prize we seek at this time in history is a way of life -- it's called freedom, liberty.

"But we will never forget the 3,000 who lost their lives on 9-11-01," he added, his way of reminding everyone what the war on terror is all about.

Of course, we now know that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.  We now know that the "prize" w