Rift Between Army and White House Widens

[pberq]

Here's a great kos diary:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/11/213936/253

Rift Between Army and White House Widens
by The Angry Rakkasan
Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 07:33:09 PM PDT

Nobody wants to talk about this in the media, but it’s true: The Army hates the Bush administration, and the Bush administration hates the Army.

This is all started when the White House ordered the Army to fight a war that wasn’t necessary. And if you’ve been in the military, or know those who have, you know that this is the cardinal sin in the sometimes rocky, but always balanced relationship between the military and its civilian principals. In essence, it’s the basis of trust between the military and the civilians who control it: You don’t send us to fight when it isn’t necessary, and we’ll do whatever else you want.

While most people would see this as pretty fair, President Bush doesn’t. He wants a military that doesn’t ask for as much. That’s why his administration has begun purging the military’s top ranks of Army officers.

(much more at link . . .)

[ramapo]

1. More irony given the Armed Forces hate on Clinton

They thought the draft-dodging, gay-loving Clinton was a disgrace.

So they get an AWOL president leading a bunch of chickenhawks who talk big about supporting the troops and then basically treat them like shit.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. They forgot the phrase...

"Be careful what you wish for, it might come true".

They weren't smart enough to see that the problems they had with RIF'fing came from moves started by...Cheney.

[CottonBear]

4. Didn't Cheney cut the Army budget during the Bush I administration?

And didn't the Republics then blame Bill Clinton for the George H.W. Bush-Cheney defense cuts?

[smiley_glad_hands]

5. Been arguing that with wingnut friends and relatives

for about over a decade now. Cheney's actions directly affected me at the time as my (single) mother was a civil servant for the military doing a mans job to support her family of eight. Anyway she got laid off during the dicks military cutbacks of the early nineties.

[CottonBear]

7. SO the wingnuts simply don't believe the truth about Dick's budget cutting?

Amazing, isn't it? I hope your family did not suffer too much after your mom was laid off.

:banghead:

[smiley_glad_hands]

9. Nope, as you know wingnust are in denial and

everything bad that happens obviously is clintons fault. Everything worked out ok for my family, thanks for asking.

[Captain Hilts]

3. The Army NEVER wanted this war. That's why the anti-war Pentagon protest was weird.

The Pentagon hates the war too!

[pberq]

6. the Army has been punished

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/11/213936/253?detail=f

. . .It started when Army General Shinseki told Congress that it would take "several hundred thousand" troops to pacify Iraq during an invasion. It continued when General Abizaid told the President that the "surge" was a bad idea. And it most recently manifested itself when Generals Batiste, Eaton, and Clark took to the airwaves to tell America that President Bush is a liar.
For its refusal to walk lockstep with this sociopathic Commander-in-Chief, the Army has now been punished. It is being systematically locked out of the military’s top leadership roles, and soon, there will only be a single Army general in one of the nine combat command positions—the rest being Air Force and Navy officers, along with one Marine. And this is while U.S. forces are ensconced in ground wars worldwide—not air wars, and not naval wars.

[Demeter]

8. But Evidently Still Not Enough

When change comes, it's going to roll like a river over the world...because nobody is brave or ethical enough to do it when it's manageable, it will be done in the most unmanagable, most destructive way possible. And innnocence will be no protection.

[ellenfl]

10. "people will want to know,

'Why didn’t the Army generals speak out when they had the chance? They could’ve done something, couldn’t they? Why were they silent when their soldiers—and America—needed them the most?'"

sounds like germany in the 40s.

ellen fl