Civilian, Military Officials at Odds Over Resources Needed for Afghan Mission- Washington Post

What is the proper role for a flag rank officer in our system of government?  Think about that as you read these articles.  It will give you a baseline to consider your opinions on defense issues. Today’s Washington Post has a string of articles on American defense policy (offense policy?) relative to the War on Terror (War of Error?). I guess it is all in your point of view.  The first article is here and it is entitled "Civilian, Military Officials at Odds Over Resources Needed for Afghan Mission".  That is a good thing.  That is exactly how our government is supposed to work.

In another article that is entitled "Pakistanis Balk at U.S. Aid Package " it seems that the Obamites best efforts to pump money and aid into Pakistan are seen as interference in their national sovereignity on that side of the issue.  We are putting too many caveats on the use of our money for their comfort level.  LOL !!!  Its about time!  The article is here . 

Here is a quote from the article: "Not a single Pakistani can accept the [aid legislation] in its current form," said Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League, a leading opposition party."  I feel good about this.  We are not going to let them end run us with our own money.  They either do as we say or they don’t get the money. Finally, somebody is taking care of our interests!  Great!

In another article, an 83 year old World War II veteran has returned two rare books to Germany that he stole while a young GI and wandering around Germany’s salt mine archives.  He feels better now.  So do the Germans.  Here is the article.

Now here is a strange little piece in the Post. 

It is just a little insight into how frumpy and completely out of touch the American military can be, especially the high command and its attendant sycophants.  What a collection of nutjobs Army colonels and Navy captains and generals and admirals can actually be. 

Here is the article.

I worked either directly or on the staff for a lot of Admirals in my time in the Coast Guard.  All I can do is chuckle. And then I get angry. Here is a quote from the article:

"Army officers gathered at a convention in Washington this week said senior White House officials should not have rebuked Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, for saying publicly that a scaled-back war effort would not succeed"…..

"It was definitely a hand slap," one Army officer said of the statement last weekend by national security adviser James L. Jones, a retired Marine general, that military officials should pass advice to President Obama through their chain of command. The Army officer, like others attending the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army, spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the politically sensitive issue."

"A number of senior Army officers compared McChrystal to Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, the Army chief of staff who warned before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 that it would take several hundred thousand troops to secure the country — advice that was dismissed as "wildly off the mark" by then Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz."

This is utter nonsense. 

Shinseki was doing his duty as a soldier and a citizen and warning us of the incredibly high price we were going to have to pay in blood and treasure in order to subdue Iraq.  The Bushites villified him and forced him into retirement for telling the truth.

McChrystal did no such thing.

McChrystal decided it was a good idea to increase a missionless war in Afghanistan by 40,000 troops to achieve….exactly…what?  His place in history?  Another gem in his career to inflate his already huge ego? 

McChrystal went on record publicly in London two weeks ago in statements that directly went counter to his civilian bosses because he was pissed off that his "soldier act" did not sway the President or the National Security Advisor, General Jones (retired).

McChrystal was out of line. Period.

To compare him to Shinseki is nonsense.  Shinseki stood up to idiots in the White House and told the Emporer that he had no clothes when Dubya lied to the people about the cost in blood that Iraq was going to exact on all of us. 

McChrystal on the other hand decided that he knew better than a slew of his civilian bosses what was best for Afghanistan and went on record publicly as being in a huff that he could not sway the President.

McChrystal either needs to shut up or step down. 

I am tired of sitting here witnessing all the West Point and Annapolis educated egos involved in this debacle, one after the other.  American kids are dying routinely because of unclear and practically missionless adventures in western Asia. An untold number of Muslim farmers, sheepherders, shopkeepers and day laborers and their families are dead because we decided to …..to do what?  Exactly what? 

I still do not know.

These displays of unfettered military and naval ego at the drop of a hat speak volumes about the dysfunction within our government.  The nation is not and never will be subservient to the needs of the military or the personal egos of the flag rank officers.  That is not our system of government.

We have civilian control here and if fat, bald, over educated and completely clueless career beauracrats want to tell a general or admiral that "this" or "that" policy must be started or brought to a halt, then it is the flag rank officers job to say "aye aye" and get the job done. 

This is not Prussia.  The army has no sacred place here.

McChrystal is pouting like a five year old at a birthday party who did not get the present she really wanted. I am sick of reading about this.  It must end.  This guy needs to grow up.  Our system of government is "of the people, by the people and for the people" and the &^%$* Army or Navy is not in the equation! 

They do as they are told by the civilians. Period.

My twelve year old grand daughter could teach this guy how to take orders.  She does it better. And she pouts a whole lot less when she is told "no". 

These Army officers that have met in convention to discuss the "screw job" that they think McChrystal is getting are only one small example of the outsized power that we have given DoD with these huge military budgets for the benefit of those with war industry stocks and bonds in their portfolios.

This is nonsense and let it be a lesson for all of us. 

When you give the Defense Departments budgets of over $660 billion dollars every year, the Pentagon starts to act like a government, not a part of government. These clowns have more money to play with than most world governments.  Do you see what happens when this financial idiocy goes down year after year after year?  Sociopaths are hatched.

These idiots and their brown nosing camp followers have it all backwards.  That is our money, not their money, that they have been loaned for defense purposes.  They do not own that money, nor do they have the right to exercise group power based on access to that money. 

That money belongs to me and you.  The decision to go to war or stay at war belongs to me and you.  And they do as they are told. PERIOD! 

There is no discussion on this point.

It is time these uniformed morons were put in their place.  Enough already with the quasi-coup attitudes from the uniformed section of the peanut gallery.  This would be dangerous if it was not so laughable.

Who in the hell do they think they are?

CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.), GS-13, Smithsonian Institution (Ret.)