"Utter Debacle"

A few years ago, I worked on a low-budget reality show called Spymaster. It ran on TLC in 2004, after getting almost zero promotion from Discovery. Quite forgettable, but the show's host was an ex-Delta Force Command Sgt Major named Eric Haney. That's him in the photo, alongside the show's winner, Grisella Martinez, shot by yours truly in a dry irrigation ditch in Tijuana. Hey, I told you it was low-budget...

Mr. Haney wrote a very compelling book a few years ago, called "Inside Delta Force." He also made friends with David Mamet, and worked with him on the feature film Spartan; Haney's influence on the lead character was obvious to those who knew him: I've only heard two people use the term "exfiltrate." One was Haney, the other was Val Kilmer.

Recently, Mamet bought the rights to Mr. Haney's book, and developed the kick-ass tv series "The Unit." As such, Haney was interviewed by David Kronke. When asked about the war in Iraq, Haney replied:

"Utter debacle. But it had to be from the very first. The reasons were wrong. The reasons of this administration for taking this nation to war were not what they stated. (Army Gen.) Tommy Franks was brow-beaten and ... pursued warfare that he knew strategically was wrong in the long term. That's why he retired immediately afterward. His own staff could tell him what was going to happen afterward... We have fomented civil war in Iraq. We have probably fomented internecine war in the Muslim world between the Shias and the Sunnis, and I think Bush may well have started the third world war, all for their own personal policies."

See the full interview at DailyNews.com.

And no, he doesn't lighten up. His vocal criticism of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq continues.

This is powerful stuff. This is a guy who spent 20 years in the army, and basically hit all of the hotspots that our military encountered in that time. He was IN the C-130 that caught fire in the Iranian desert. He was in Grenada. He was a founding member of Delta Force. When the Beltway snipers were terrorizing the greater DC area, Haney was interviewed, and was spot-on as to how many snipers there were, how they had modified their vehicle, and what their tactics were.

This guy knows his stuff. He's tough and he's smart, and he's not afraid to say what he thinks. I challenge the Bush apologists to try to Swift Boat Haney, and paint him as some kind of "kindness and caring" liberal -- he's the real deal, and unlike George W. Bush, he really has been to war.

When career NCO's like Haney start questioning the Iraqi policy, it's time to take a hard look at our actions... and how to get out of this mess.

Finally, another nice action shot of Haney... yeah, we had a thing for helicopters on that show.