America’s Military General Worship
BY Herschel Smith
5 years ago
Via WRSA, from Matt Bracken.
I have no doubt he was promised something for this bit is silliness. No one actually believes those things about Hillary Clinton. With the corruption, Uranium One, the misadventures in Haiti, and the trail of dead bodies lining the streets from Arkansas to Washington, D.C., everyone knows all about the Clintons. This isn’t hard. It’s also not difficult to believe that no one in the audience believed a word of his speech. The more difficult thing is to understand why anyone would care what McRaven thinks?
Let me switch gears for a moment to General Mattis. He comes with indisputable creds form the USMC, but even then, his view of things is broken. He upbraided Trump several days ago with these words.
“I earned my spurs on the battlefield … Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor,” Mattis joked at one point, in a reference to the medical deferment for bone spurs that kept Mr. Trump from serving in the military during the Vietnam War.
At another point, Mattis responded to reports that Mr. Trump called him “the world’s most overrated general” during a meeting with Democrats earlier this week. Mattis joked that he felt like he had “achieved greatness,” because he was “not just an overrated general, I am the greatest, the world’s most overrated.”
“I’m honored to be considered that by Donald Trump, because he also called Meryl Streep an overrated actress,” he continued. “So, I guess I’m the Meryl Streep of generals. Frankly that sounds pretty good to me.”
I have no problem with his upbraiding of the president. I don’t like him. I didn’t like the one before him, nor the one before him, nor the one before him. What I do have a problem with is discussed here.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, military brass quickly began to plan an attack on al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. But Marines almost missed being a part of this effort, as planners including Army Gen. Tommy Franks, then CENTCOM commander, didn’t see the point in sending an amphibious force into a landlocked country. But Mattis was part of a small team of officials who crafted a plan to send Task Force 58 — amphibious ships and a landing force — into Camp Rhino in southern Afghanistan. “The minute [5th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. William Moore] pointed to a map showing landlocked Afghanistan, hundreds of miles from the sea, I knew I could land there with thousands of Marines,” Mattis writes.
Mattis indicates another clash with Franks, the CENTCOM commander, elsewhere in the book, when he describes the 2001 search for Osama bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Mattis believed, with the use of light infantry and special operations troops, he could close off the escape routes and take bin Laden. Franks thought sending Marines and vehicles into the mountains would only repeat Soviet mistakes. Ultimately, the trap was not laid, and bin Laden would not be killed until 2011. “If I had to do it again,” Mattis wrote, “I would have called both [the U.S. Army Central Command] commander and Admiral Moore and said, ‘Sir, I have a plan to accomplish the mission, kill Osama bin Laden, and hand you a victory. All I need is your permission.'”
And he was right. Readers from long ago may recall that my counsel would have been to put Marines on the border with Pakistan in the Hindu Kush, perhaps supplemented by Rangers, while a MEU drove him and his fighters towards the border and snared him there before he could escape to live a lot longer. After this brief campaign, we should have withdrawn.
But instead, Mattis kept his mouth shut and allowed America to get bogged down into a two decade COIN effort as part of nation building and winning hearts and minds, all run by social justice warriors, college graduates with guns who wanted to cure the world’s evils. Petraeus was too busy with his concubine to do much there, while McChrystal brought in ROE that hampered the effort and killed American troops.
McChrystal and his ROE was directly responsible for the boys at Joyce denying support to the Americans at Ganjgal, along with the corollary deaths of 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, 25; Gunnery Sgts. Aaron Kenefick, 30; and Edwin Johnson, 31; and Hospitalman 3rd Class James Layton, 22, and Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, 41. Three marines and naval corpsman, 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, Staff Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, Gunnery Sgt. Edwin W. Johnson, and Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class James Layton, were killed after remaining behind to cover the withdrawal of the Afghan soldiers from the ambush site.
Yet after all of that, Petraeus and McChrystal have the temerity to continue to push for gun control over Americans, despite the oath to the constitution they swore to uphold. There is a sense of entitlement among the military elite, as if experience in strategy and logistics enables them and gives them righteous jurisdiction over American policy.
This is an error made by not only McChrystal, Petraeus, and Mattis, but Trump as well. Trump’s insult to Mattis is as irrelevant and unimportant as Mattis’ rebuttal. But this is an error made by many of the American people. Even the left will engage the error as long as the general pushes policies of which they approve, despite their hatred of everything America.
So why should anyone care about McRaven’s policy preferences? They shouldn’t, any more than they should care about those of McChrystal or Petraeus or Mattis. But Americans are always searching for a hero to worship, and they find them in the military elite.
Oh, and there is one more item of interest here. McRaven is as much of a gun controller as Petraeus and McChrystal. How do you SpecOps guys feel about that? And McChrystal? Didn’t you call him “The Pope?”
On October 20, 2019 at 9:36 pm, Dan said:
During the SCOAMF Obama’s tenure the military underwent a purge the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades. ANY flag level officer that wasn’t TOTALLY in line with the commie left demonrats and their policies was FORCED TO RETIRE (at least WE sent them to Florida with a pension unlike Stalin etc who sent them to gulags and firing squads). ANY flag level officer left in the military can be counted on to be a flaming commie traitor. McRaven is a prime example of that.
On October 21, 2019 at 7:26 am, Bram said:
Everyone above Colonel is a politician.
On October 21, 2019 at 7:30 am, JoeFour said:
Bram said, “Everyone above Colonel is a politician.”
Yep.
https://johntreed.com/blogs/john-t-reed-s-blog-about-military-matters/60879683-the-u-s-military-s-marathon-30-year-single-elimination-suck-up-tournament-or-how-america-selects-its-generals
On October 21, 2019 at 7:41 am, ragman said:
It will be decades before the destruction of our country at the hands of Obama is truly known. He was an unmitigated disaster and the dismantling of our military is the tip of the iceberg. Everything l read about the military is bad. Im sure Russia and China are quaking in their boots at the thought of facing our weakened, feminized military. I had always thought that our Spec Ops guys were the last bastion of what our military should be. It sure doesn’t look like that’s the case.
On October 21, 2019 at 9:23 am, Fred said:
+1 @Dan
Herschel is right, an honorable man would have objected even to the ruination of his career.
And I seem to remember that somebody else (general officer, gov “official” or some such) called for 500 10th mountain troops to block the egress of the Taliban commanders into Pakistan. I don’t think that Matis was the only one who didn’t raise enough objection. But, keeping Bin Laden alive served it’s purposes until baby bush needed his usefulness to change from alive to dead.
Americans pay for the security, cultivation, transport, and probably the refinement of the Afghan poppy products but who is keeping the money from the sale into Europe and rural America?
On October 21, 2019 at 10:07 am, dad29 said:
While the military is problematic, the CIA/State combination is far worse for the US. CIA/State causes or participates in the conflicts which provide the military-industrial complex with plenty of cash and comfort.
On October 21, 2019 at 10:42 am, revjen45 said:
I believe the term is “perfumed prince”
On October 21, 2019 at 4:42 pm, Badger said:
Mattis is known also among SF as the guy (actual) that wouldn’t allow dispatch of a dustoff that would’ve saved some team lives.
As to the Anaconda reference, the many good accounts of that indicate the hubris at several levels and it mostly comes down to “jointness” – translated not as this really makes sense but as “our guys have to get in the fight because ‘relevance’ and $$$ later.” At a tactical level, the dependence on helos – literally helo-centric warfare – has put hobbles on otherwise good operational planning. From Mogadishu into the Shah-i-Kot valley, the friction strikes as is typical, one helo goes down, and suddenly it all becomes about the bird. Tombstones abound that should read “Shunned Experienced Counsel.”
If these princes had any honor left at all they’d simply walk out on the ice so as not to be a burden to the village.
On October 21, 2019 at 4:52 pm, Wrsa said:
FYI
Codevilla’s latest:
https://amgreatness.com/2019/10/19/who-the-hell-do-they-think-they-are/
On October 21, 2019 at 5:34 pm, Jack said:
McRaven is a traitor. It’s Just that simple
On October 21, 2019 at 10:15 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
Re: “So why should anyone care about McRaven’s policy preferences? They shouldn’t, any more than they should care about those of McChrystal or Petraeus or Mattis. But Americans are always searching for a hero to worship, and they find them in the military elite.”
“Warriors interfere with the smooth running of the peace-time military” (author unknown). Technically, the nation is at war, but they are “small wars” so Washington and the Five-Sided Puzzle Palace continue to function as if at peace. Which means actual warriors aren’t welcome.
Yes, guys like McRaven and McChrystal have seen combat, but that was years ago and they have marinated for so long in the toxic broth of Washington that they don’t really qualify anymore. They’ve become corrupt, have sold their souls and betrayed their oaths as officers in the name of career-climbing and getting rich.
As other commenters have noted, no one become an officer of general/flag rank without first being approved by – getting the “advice and consent” of – Congress. Which means flag/general officers have to be, by definition, politicians.
Even the ones who come to town with good intentions and good character can become corrupted by the system if they stay long enough. There are a lot of powerful incentives in that town, and few if any point in the right direction, whereas a great many are perverse if not evil, and do not serve the needs of the country.
The late Colonel David L. Hackworth, one of America’s most-decorated soldiers, and a combat soldier and leader of impeccable credentials, never made general’s rank, and even after he retired to become a military correspondent for “Newsweek” and other publications, continued to cast a critical former sergeant’s eye on things in Washington. He called guys like McRaven, Petraeus and MacChystal “perfumed princes,” bureaucrats running around in uniform, politicians on the make in gold-encrusted uniforms. “Hack” could spot a phony from a long ways off, and he spoke the truth about the type.
Americans have a tradition of “rewarding” successful military men with high office and the power, prestige and perquisites which accompany such positions. The downfall of such thinking is that military service is no guarantee of competency, let alone excellence, in the skills required of a successful legislator or chief executive. For every ex-military man who turns out well as a “public servant,” one can easily list plenty who did not.
If we as a nation are going to select people for public office on the basis of military service, then at least pick the right ones. Can’t speak for others, but I’d sooner trust the Oval Office to a tough old NCO than some rear-area pogue who hasn’t gotten his boots dirty in thirty years.
The poor quality of our senior officer ranks is reflective of the system which elevates them. It rewards many of the wrong characteristics while screening out those most-desirable in a good leader, military or civilian. People like Colonel Douglas MacGregor (USA, ret.) have been making this case for years.
Regarding General Mattis, I distinctly recall all of this hagiography about the man before he joined Trump’s team – “a true warrior monk, so devoted to his duty as a Marine officer he never found time to marry and have a family,” etc. etc. – what bilge! – but the man himself was a letdown. I knew he would be, too. How? Because of the diagnostic characteristic that he favors the inclusion of women in the combat arms. That’s a sure marker that he’s been properly house-broken by the pols on the Hill, and won’t rock the boat.
It’s truly a shame that the public has no means by which it can cancel the pensions and other publicly-funded benefits these latter-day Quislings receive. Because they don’t deserve a dime if they betray their oaths.
On October 22, 2019 at 5:20 am, streamfortyseven said:
“Most everyone knows that the primary reason that our American ancestors insisted on the passage of the Second Amendment was to ensure against tyranny. The right to keep and bear arms would enable Americans to resist tyranny with force rather than meekly accept the inevitable.
Americans didn’t trust the federal government that they were calling into existence with the Constitution. That’s why the Constitution limits the federal government to a relative few enumerated powers. It’s also why the Bill of Rights expressly prohibits the federal government from depriving people of fundamental rights and why four different amendments require long-established procedural protections before federal officials can do bad things to people.
But how many Americans give careful thought to what tyranny actually means and how it is carried out? I’d venture very few. That’s because people don’t want to confront what is a very discomforting thought: that a tyrannical regime uses its standing army to carry out and enforce its tyranny. Yes, I’m referring to the troops, the people that so many Americans have come to idolize and praise almost as if they were a big brother within their families.” https://www.fff.org/2013/03/04/gun-control-and-the-dangers-of-a-standing-army/
On October 22, 2019 at 6:36 am, Tom said:
Up is down. Black is white. Evil is good. There is no “collapse” coming because brother we are already SHTF. Trust God, Love People, remember to flush.
On October 22, 2019 at 7:38 am, Carl B. said:
We have Lesbians running DD’s into cargo ships on the open sea and i’m supposed to give a flying f*** what this “Admiral” says?
No straight, White young man wants to join the US SJW Military these days. This country has screwed the pooch. It’s over.
On October 22, 2019 at 8:12 am, DWEEZIL THE WEASEL said:
It all started long ago. I saw it in 1970, when I was an Officer Candidate at Benning’s School for Boys. It was called “Cooperate and Graduate”. Needless to say, I did not get with their syphilitic-thinking, self-serving hypocritical program. Nixon’s cutbacks gave me and a lot of like-minded others the option to be fired. I took it and did not look back.
With the advent of “Enlisted Women” due to social engineering in the All-Volunteer Army, things have gotten that much worse. But, when you read Sun Tzu and understand what is looming on the horizon, I do not get upset about the deterioration of .mil. As soon as the Infanticide Party can oust or neutralize the Mango Emperor, they will used their Obama-purged .mil to go after gun owners, home-schoolers, and others who value true liberty. Plan accordingly.
On October 22, 2019 at 8:18 am, Fred said:
“house-broken” Heh.
On October 22, 2019 at 9:59 am, pyrrhus said:
So Herschel still thinks Bin Laden was responsible for 9/11? But in any event, the hunt for him did disclose the sheer incompetence of the Military, which has only gotten worse in the last few years.
On October 22, 2019 at 10:24 am, Herschel Smith said:
@Pyrrhus,
You have no idea what I think, nor why I think it. Thanks for playing. Try again next time.
On October 22, 2019 at 12:04 pm, Foot in the Forest said:
The impeachment and removal from office of D J T will kick off the second American revolution. I wonder how many of our “elected” officials realize that a vote to impeach this president will mean that they have signed their own death warrant?
On October 22, 2019 at 12:24 pm, Jay said:
Heroes??? These assholes have gotten thousands of GOOD men killed while not winning a war in 50 years. Hang em high
On October 22, 2019 at 3:22 pm, Jimmy the Saint said:
“It’s also not difficult to believe that no one in the audience believed a word of his speech. ”
Of course no one believed it. Just as no one really believed the tongue baths given to Stalin, or Mao, or Saddam, etc. It’s not about the content of the speech – it’s about making the speech. It’s an affirmation of faith in the new religion.
“But Americans are always searching for a hero to worship, and they find them in the military elite.”
For a lot of America, it’s always WWII. Because so many went off to war, the military was viewed as “us”. While the circumstances have changed, that view has not.
On October 22, 2019 at 5:54 pm, Johnny Paratrooper said:
I wasted 7 years of my life in the SJW Army of None. Glad I have the training and the mindset now. Regardless of any debate over Mattis, or any other worthless wad of trash like Odinero(A 7 foot tall Coward). In 2Lt Scott Benett’s whistleblower report ‘Shell Game” Mattis is directly connected to the Cocaine running and the coverup. Considering that ever gay bar in D.C. is full of Commie Jews and Regular College Commies(Who work for anti-freedom NGO’s or Intelligence). They have the best cocaine, it is pure, and uncut, which is VERY hard to find. It stands to reason that Mattis is the big dog of coke dealing with Mossad and MI6. But what could I know. I only have a genius level IQ and remember nearly everything, and everyone, I meet.
On October 22, 2019 at 9:54 pm, Tiger Stripe said:
Don’t worry about WWIII our external enemies don’t have diversity, transgender troops or bootlicker generals who haven’t even fired a cap gun.