Warning to troops: Stay out of politics!
Admiral Michael Mullen's recent admonition flies in the face of logic, considering the politicalization (is that a real word?) of everything during the Iraq war. Generals have been central political figures since the first U.S. invasion of Iraq in 1991.
Not only have generals voiced their concerns over troop levels, strategy and the disposition of former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, they've been central to swaying public opinion on this war from the very beginning. How can the armed services expect their enlisted men and officers to remove themselves from the debate, even as the quagmire gets deeper and deeper every day?
On the contrary, I think that the troops are absolutely essential to deepening our understanding of just how damaging this war has been to our national reputation. Asking those young men and women to ignore their observations and instincts, whether they support the war or not, is NOT patriotic, and not even possible. The genie is out of the bottle.
Demo:
The military is the last bastion, after American households, where those in the trenches are to do as the commanders say, not as they do.
Posted by: Art A Layman | May 26, 2008 1:36 PM | Permalink to Comment