skippy the bush kangaroo: general dissatisfaction

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

general dissatisfaction

via juan cole via think progress via makethemaccountable, we find the san diego union tribune reporting that 20 non-active generals have spoken out against the iraq war, much to the detriment of their own careers:

in op-ed pieces, interviews and tv ads, more than 20 retired u.s. generals have broken ranks with the culture of salute and keep it in the family. instead, they are criticizing the commander in chief and other top civilian leaders who led the nation into what the generals believe is a misbegotten and tragic war.

the active-duty generals followed procedure, sending reports up the chain of command. the retired generals beseeched old friends in powerful positions to use their influence to bring about a change.

when their warnings were ignored, some came to believe it was their patriotic duty to speak out, even if it meant terminating their careers.

it was a decision none of the men approached cavalierly. most were political conservatives who had voted for george w. bush and initially favored his appointment of donald rumsfeld as defense secretary.

but they felt betrayed by bush and his advisers.

[ed. note: who hasn't?]

maj. gen. paul eaton…said his frustration began festering in 2003, when he was assigned to build the iraqi army from scratch. his internal requests for more equipment and properly trained instructors went unheeded, he said.

while on active duty, eaton did not criticize his civilian bosses – almost to a man, the generals agree active-duty officers have no business doing that. but he was candid in media interviews. building an iraqi army, he warned, would take years, and the effort might never succeed.

in 2004, he was replaced by gen. david petraeus – now the military commander in iraq – and reassigned stateside. sensing his once-promising army career had foundered, eaton retired jan. 1, 2006.

eaton, of course, wrote the now infamous op-ed piece in the nytimes, decrying the iraq war and calling for rumsfeld's resignation.

some of eaton's colleagues, both active and retired, endorsed his decision to speak out. others thought he had stepped out of bounds. he became persona non grata with ethics instructors at the u.s. military academy, his alma mater.

eaton said he has no regrets.

we have several regrets, most of them beginning with "w."

Labels: iraq war, military, punditry, supporting our troops