The Revolt of the Generals

[roguevalley]

If this is a dupe, please delete:

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN

The immense significance of Rep John Murtha's November 17 speech calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq is that it signals mutiny in the US senior officer corps, seeing the institution they lead as "broken, worn out" and "living hand to mouth", to use the biting words of their spokesman, John Murtha, as he reiterated on December his denunciation of Bush's destruction of the Army.

A CounterPuncher with nearly 40 years experience working in and around the Pentagon told me this week that "The Four Star Generals picked Murtha to make this speech because he has maximum credibility." It's true. Even in the US Senate there's no one with quite Murtha's standing to deliver the message, except maybe for Byrd, but the venerable senator from West Virginia was a vehement opponent of the war from the outset , whereas Murtha voted for it and only recently has turned around.

So the Four-Star Generals briefed Murtha and gave him the state-of-the-art data which made his speech so deadly, stinging the White House into panic-stricken and foolish denunciations of Murtha as a clone of Michael Moore.

It cannot have taken vice president Cheney, a former US Defense Secretary, more than a moment to scan Murtha's speech and realize the import of Murtha's speech as an announcement that the generals have had enough.

rest here:

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn12032005.html

[msongs]

1. generals are revolting, in general . reminds me of an old playboy cartoon

from the late 60's early 70's. shows a bunch of air force type officers standing like a chorus, singing "all we are saying is give war a chance."

Msongs
www.msongs.com/chinamart.htm

[H2O Man]

2. Important article.

Nominated.

[teryang]

3. Following the Hubert Humphrey model of political diaster

What career democrats in Washington don't get is that Iraq is hurting rather than helping our national security posture.

This was predictable from before the war began. It's patriotic to oppose the war and demand a speedy withdrawal, to save the integrity of our power projection capability on the ground.

Murtha got the belt buckle. He's speaking for the belt buckles. Professional politicians need to get in line. Ordinarily, saying I been there doesn't naturally qualify one as knowledgeable in military political strategy. Murtha is a perfect example. It's taken him years to get a grip.

Better late than never.

Think of how dumb McCain is. He still doesn't get it. Cheney and the Bushbots are only in it for the money, they don't care. McCain is just stupid locked into the old "we coulda won Vietnam, if the liberals hadn't sabotaged us."

[ellenfl]

5. i disagree about mccain.

he's just angling for the republican presidential nomination.

ellen fl

[teryang]

7. Do you know him?

I'm speaking based upon the environment that shaped his character.

What I am describing is intrinsic to his character, it isn't just politically expedient. His position on troops levels has been consistent throughout the war. His position is more, more, more.

I shouldn't have said stupid. He's hard wired to his experience and tradition and has accordingly drawn some incorrect conclusions. He knows nothing about ground warfare.

It's a tradition not a thought process that drives his conclusions and strategy. He is unable to set his analytic abilities free as a military man, his background and outlook are too myopic coming from a cloistered and narrowed minded cultural milieu.

In addition to these limitations, he has an anger management problem, which is understandable given his background. I've seen it in other former POWS.

[Rex]

4. Military is not broken, it is being abused by the BFEE.

The military should sue the WH for abuse of authority and negligence.

[Junkdrawer]

6. I was born and raised in Johnstown. This is what I said Nov 17th...

Murtha coming out against Iraq = John Wayne opposing Vietnam..

It's that profound. It means:

1.) Bush has lost the support of a huge part of the military.

2.) Bush has lost the support of central PA, one of the most conservative regions of the country.

This is big.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5387611