Major General Eaton: Republicans "Worst Thing That's Happened" To Military

Major General Paul D. Eaton, the original commander in charge of the mission to train Iraqi troops, has become an outspoken critic of the Bush administration and, in a Friday night appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Eaton let Republicans have it with both barrels.

The no-nonsense Eaton blasted Congressional Republicans when asked by Maher about the "dysfunctional abusive relationship with George Bush" that seems to exist when so many of the troops appear to continue supporting Bush no matter how badly he treats them.

"We've got this thing that so many military believe that Republican administrations are good for the military. That is rarely the case," said Eaton. "And, we have got to get a message through to every soldier, every family member, every friend of soldiers that the Republican party, the Republican-dominated Congress has absolutely been the worst thing that's happened to the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps."

"With the arrival of a Democratic-controlled Congress, thank God, on the 7th of November, we've got a chance to unsort and to figure out how to get from under this."

On the Walter Reed scandal, Eaton placed the ultimate blame squarely at the feet of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

"I'll put it right on Rumsfeld's shoulders. Rumsfeld was the primary architect of the disasters that we've got going on right now," said the retired Major General. "He's probably shrugging his shoulders out there going 'I'm guilty for Walter Reed as well as everything else?' and he is. He set the stage for the management of this war and the management of the aftermath of combat."

Here's the full clip: