politics

Military Officiers Starting to Revolt?

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An article on Slate talks about how high ranking officials and former generals are fed up with Donald Rumsfeld and how their voices are starting to echo and gather weight behind them. You’ve got to love an article, and the state of our country, our military and our foreign policy, when said article starts with “It’s an odd thought, but a military coup in this country right now would probably have a moderating influence.” Here is a quote from the latest former General to finally publically air his views:

I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat—al-Qaeda. … [T]he Pentagon’s military leaders … with few exceptions, acted timidly when their voices urgently needed to be heard. When they knew the plan was flawed, saw intelligence distorted to justify a rationale for war, or witnessed arrogant micromanagement that at times crippled the military’s effectiveness, many leaders who wore the uniform chose inaction. … It is time for senior military leaders to discard caution in expressing their views and ensure that the President hears them clearly. And that we won’t be fooled again.

What I want to know is where have you been Lt. Gen. Greg Newbold since you retired in 2002? Why only speak up now? Still, its better late than never.
In other political news, the latest flare-up about our president’s inability to listen to views that differ from his pre-conceived notion of what’s going on is picking up some steam. It’s about how when captured trailers were touted to the public as mobile WMD labs back in ’03, the Pres, Veep and everyone in the WH knew that intel was false but went with it anyway because everyone was wondering where all the WMDs were. My question is why is it taking so long for these lies to come to light? For those keeping score at home, here are 3 other instances where the WH didn’t care about what others in our government had to say:
1) The administration claimed an al Qaeda prisoner reported that Saddam had trained al Qaeda in bomb-making, but the Defense Intelligence Agency reported before the war that the prisoner was “intentionally misleading the debriefers.”
2) The administration claimed aluminum tubes in Iraq were irrefutable evidence that Saddam had a nuclear program, but the experts at the State and Energy Departments dissented from that view.
3) The administration claimed that Iraqi drones capable of delivering WMD could attack the U.S., but the experts at the Air Force dissented from the view.
I wish i lived in the same world that the WH does. It must be full of gooey gumdrops and lollypop lanes. It must be. Oh yeah, and Jesus is there too, kicking it with his righteous homies.