GEN. Eric Shinseki (Retd.)...

...holds special interest for me because he was the one who pushed through the implementation of the Stryker, something which we (Infantry) are going to be doing soon. The story about him and the Iraq war is even more interesting, however. I quote from Wiki:

No, Major Montague shot back, it was more complicated: the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the top commanders were part of the decision to send in a small invasion force and not enough troops for the occupation. Only Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, the Army chief of staff who was sidelined after he told Congress that it would take several hundred thousand troops in Iraq, spoke up in public. “You didn’t hear any of them at the time, other than General Shinseki, screaming, saying that this was untenable,” Major Montague said.

However it's also clear to these officers that publically stating contrary opinions comes with a high cost:

Yet, Major Hardaway said, General Shinseki had shown there was a great cost, at least under Mr. Rumsfeld. “Evidence shows that when you do that in uniform, bad things can happen,” he said. “So, it’s sort of a dichotomy of, should I do the right thing, even if I get punished?”

It seems that the same thing is occuring in the UK, at least judging from public forums and news reports.

I hope that our NS policy means that there will be less disconnect between politicians and the military.