| I have received comments from some wishing I would write more “original” material on my own blog. The following is a reply I wrote to a posting on a blog I follow. |
|
| The blog is: http://carryingthegun.wordpress.com |
|
| The specific post I was replying to is: http://carryingthegun.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/whats-with-the-super-hate-towards-gen-petraeus-that-cuny-video/ |
|
| Please go to the original site to read the full context of what (the post and the video) I am responding to… |
|
| General Petraeus spent the majority of his adult life in service to his country. For this he is to be thanked. The protesters are louts and are fortunate they have people willing to defend this country so they can have the freedom to be so boorish and rude. If they honestly believed the General is a war criminal and can prove it, they should be raising the issue in the courts instead of verbally assaulting him on the street. |
|
| Like the Italian student, the average civilian does not understand that to progress in today’s military requires not just a willingness to engage and destroy the enemy, but also that you continue your personal education. Petraeus, may have sought his particular degrees for his personal growth, but he also fully understood that in today’s military, to get to the top, you must punch your ticket at every possible level, in command positions, in staff positions and in education. Education includes branch staff colleges and “normal” university education. Petraeus may be the exception for going to the PhD level, but he is by no means the exception for advanced degrees within the modern military. This is all just a part of the MBA’ing of the U.S. Military. |
|
| Franks, Petraeus, Schwarzkopf, Powell and many others are politicians (within the Pentagon and Congress) as much as they are military men. It remains to be seen whether this is good for the country (and the military) or not. |
|
| As for the UK student, being half right can also make you completely wrong. Yes, the German high command was extremely well educated – and not just in terms of warfare. But that is not the same as being Nazis. Unfortunately, they (the German military – disregarding the SS) were too observant of the rule of the lawful government and then could not change their mindset when their government became unlawful. I can still hear the castigation of General Shinseki after his cautionary testimony prior to the invasion of Iraq. I wonder if world history might have been changed if some of the German high command had had some small amount of Shinseki’s courage. |
|
| Of course, the SS were a different kettle of fish, but then fanatics usually are. The SS were the true “Nazis” the average person thinks of when the term is thrown about loosely. And no, I am not forgiving the “average” German or the “average” German soldier for their acquiescence AND participation in the butchery of the period. |
|
| We are facing perilous times for our military because we now have a full generation of senior commanders who have never known hard times. Money, honors and fame have been there for the taking for the last 20 plus years, and they have done so – during and after their careers. They are almost precisely where the German professional military was in the late 1920′s and early 1930′s – comfortable and elite. As I stated above, it remains to be seen whether this is good for the country or not. |
|
| As for me, I keep hearing General (then President) Eisenhower’s cautionary speech about the dangers of the military / industrial complex… For a transcript of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address (1961), see: |
|
| http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=90&page=transcript |
|
| And just in case nobody has said it to you lately: “Thank you for your service, Lieutenant.” (And forgive me if you are now a Captain…) |
|
| [For the record, in my reply on the original site, I inadvertently misspelled General Petraeus’ name several times and I have corrected these errors above. — kmab] |
|
| . |
| On This Day In: |
| 2021 |
Said The Anti-Vaxxer |
|
Ceiling Mash |
| 2020 |
Is #45 In Good Spirits? |
|
Alone With My Tears |
| 2019 |
Learning To… |
|
Day 15: Die By The Scale |
| 2018 |
Just Wondering |
| 2017 |
Until I Think Of Something Better |
| 2016 |
Who Are You? |
| 2015 |
Renaissance Reptiles |
| 2014 |
Book Return |
| 2013 |
Keep Writing Your Truths |
|
Perilous Times For The U.S. Military |
| 2012 |
The Victor |
| 2011 |
Forging Away At My Deadlines |
| 2010 |
Try This With Your Shoes… |
|
|
Kevin Barrett's Blog 
I see now that it’s never going to stop. There will never be enough bodies to satisfy those who seek power over others or want what others have or don’t like what others believe. Maybe we can get all of the women in the world to stand in front of the guns and when we are all laying dead on the ground the wars can continue unabated until the last person is gone and all the tears and blood will have been shed over nothing more than power, greed, bigotry and hatred. I love and appreciate our armed forces but I feel that war is often the result of a breakdown of communication and resolution between governments/countries. But I only know what I’m told. The things that really take place are never meant to be known by everyday citizens. Therefore, I don’t really know a thing and neither does anyone else who isn’t involved at the top. Look at Viet Nam…we weren’t allowed to “win.” There is too much going on behind the curtain to trust what is happening. We all know that there never were “weapons of mass destruction.” Deals are being made, we sell arms to the guys we end up fighting so they have better weapons to kill our soldiers. We are all insane and if I believe that then things make more sense because rational and sane people don’t kill their loved ones. Unfortunately, regular people rarely start wars or make weapons…regular people just die for reasons we may never know…reasons that people in power deem worthwhile.
Bette Middler sings a sad song on one of her CDs and there is a line that says “…we lost Davey in the Korean War, still don’t know what for, don’t matter anymore…” Because people really don’t always know what for.
I don’t share your vision. Perhaps that’s just my hope getting in the way.
Eventually, there will be too many bodies and humanity will say enough is enough. I just think it will take a good, long, while, yet.
I agree that communication is one big part of the puzzle. Another is simple empathy for our fellow humanity, which I guess maybe isn’t so simple. Particularly in the face of power and greed, maybe empathy is insufficient. I don’t know. Sometimes, I too get discouraged. I don’t believe the government most of the time. Not because they lie to us intentionally, which I’m sure they do (lie that is), but because I think they (the powers that be) think we just can’t understand the complexities of modern day multinational arms proliferation. And, for the average person, they (the powers that be) may be correct. Not many working stiffs have the energy or the time required to gain expertise.
I do hope President Obama finds a way to get the Russians to locate and remove the Syrian chemical weapons. I don’t believe the U.S. can be the world’s police force (nor should we be). And, we don’t need another slow slide into war which inevitably happens when the first shots get fired.
Regular people die for the same reasons they always have – because we’re the ones stopping all the lead or breathing all the chemicals.
I don’t think the people in power are unaware of the reasons as much as they are ambivalent to the loss of our lives. It just means they won’t have to pay for our Social Security retirement or national health care.
As for Vietnam… We weren’t allowed to win because there was too much money to be made from prolonging the conflict (“war”). And don’t forget the re-elections… Does that sound anything like Iraq or Afghanistan??? Just suppose the military had been allowed to catch Bin Laden in Tora Bora in December of 2001 (!!!), instead of being held back to allow his escape. Just suppose other leaders besides General Shinseki had stood up to the “Chicken-hawks” of the Bush Administration. Maybe there would have been no Iraq invasion. But just think of all the weapons that never would have been tested (developed, bought and paid for). No, there was money to be made and “someone” had to justify the government spending it on war – one of the least productive of all human activities, but politically, one of the easiest to fund (and keep on funding).
…But still I hope for peace.