Ellsberg says military will be in revolt if Obama doesn't bow down to them...

[Postman]

http://www.truthout.org/1102096

Obama fears that top US military commanders will stage a revolt if he rejects their requests for additional soldiers....

WTF is wrong with this picture?

I say let those that want to "revolt", go ahead - and then when that happens, order those that understand their duty to the Constution to place them under arrest and shoot their asses dead in front of a firing squad for treason.

Mr Obama, for once, grow a pair.

[Captain Hilts]

1. That's just not true. Think about it. The admirals that Gates put in charge of things

represent the service most hurt by this war. They have no stake in its being continued.

"The Pentagon" is not a being with a one-track mind. Let's stop personifying it as if it were a person.

[Postman]

2. What's not true?

[Captain Hilts]

10. That Obama is that vulnerable and the military brass are united in wanting to continue and

intensify these wars.

neither is true.

[Bitwit1234]

24. Did they revolt when bush

fired their leaders, put in yes men and sent them into battle over and over and over again, with rest or furloughs. Heck no. So why would they revolt when Obama is trying to save their lives and not kill them cause like it or not republicans that's what bush did. He killed our military for his own personal reasons.

[Captain Hilts]

25. The Army and Marines went to Iraq kicking and screaming. They did not want to go.

They knew what a mess it'd be.

[atreides1]

3. There's a problem

The majority of the US military have no fucking clue as to what their duty to the US Constitution is!!!

[iceman66]

8. The problem is that

many of the top brass in the military, and the civilian leadership in the Pentagon, are intimately connected with the military industrial complex.

The continuation of these wars represent the transfer of billions and billions of dollars of the peoples' money into these private hands, and they want to keep the gravy train going.

This has little to do with the national security of the United States.

[Postman]

11. This is one of the reasons why Thomas Jefferson was against standing armies during peacetime..

He foresaw what Eisenhower knew in his military-industrial-complex speech.

The US military is too large and is performing the function of "bodyguard" for corporate interests who are or have become less and less "American" as time goes on....

The military has become a monster in that it needs feeding and if it doesn't get fed I fear what the reaction would be from those in the Pentagon.

What would the reaction be if it were proposed to cut the military budget by 1/4 to 1/2 and announce a pullback from the over 700 bases worldwide....

[iceman66]

13. I'm sure Obama would love to do that.

It would sure free up a ton of cash for things like health care reform, but no president has that kind of power, certainly not acting alone.

The problem has gotten so bad that protecting these corporate interests is now antithetical to the interests of the American people as a whole.

[Captain Hilts]

26. And, unfortunately, it's one of the few places promsing skills, education and economic security to

lower income folks.

[H2O Man]

12. well said

[TwilightGardener]

4. That won't happen. At worst, Obama will have to replace some high rank

officers who become insubordinate, or they'll resign.

[Mari333]

5. a mild mannered lawyer from Chicago

being led around by huge mean hulking military assholes whose very jobs depend on neverending war.
yeah, he needs to grow a pair.

[JVS]

6. Maybe he should start sending the brass to the war zones to make that tough for them

[OHdem10]

7. Think of Generals that were dismissed under Bush.

[kentuck]

9. It appears he would rather have them inside pissing out...

than on the outside pissing in. And there is doubt, they would be doing a lot of pissing. Gates, Petraeus, the lot of them...

[joeybee12]

14. Ellsburg, huh?

Not really reliable.

[kentuck]

15. What do you mean?

Not reliable?

[joeybee12]

20. This guy has absolutely no connections to anyone in this current WH...

...there's no one close to Obama from whom he could have gotten this information or even gotten the sense of what Obama is thinking.

[jonnyblitz]

22. how do you know who he knows or doesn't know? are you aware

of what he was back in the day?

[joeybee12]

23. Please note that there is no quote from Ellsberg saying Obama fears

a revolt...he was talking in general terms...the article and headline make it sound like he ahs some insider knowledge...he doesn't...he's just offering his perspective...the article is Enquirer-level journalism.

[jonnyblitz]

21. WRONG! the pentagon papers guy is more reliable than most. nt

[kctim]

16. There is nothing wrong with this picture

IF they were to "revolt," it would be an administrative "revolt," not a violent "revolt." If the commanders are not given the resources to reach the goals they have been ordered to reach, they will resign. Happens all the time and there is nothing unconstitutional about it.
President Obama does not fear a bloody revolt, he fears losing those he needs in order to succeed.

[Sinti]

17. I doubt this is a serious threat

unless you already have a contingent of the military that is planning something unconstitutional, generally, and looking for an excuse. You do have that crazy religious general, talking about his god being bigger than theirs, maybe he's got a little cult following.

The military usually want war even less than the public, after all, they're the ones who die. For the commanders, those who are in their charge are most likely to die. It's obvious to everyone that the more soldiers you send, the more people you kill, the more insurgents you are making. We'd all be insurgents if some army came in here and starting killing our friends and family - even if we didn't like our leadership.

A couple of bone-headed generals who are looking to get ahead by showing their "quality" in war can easily be put in their place by kicking them down a rank for insubordination if they "revolt".

Are we supposed to be afraid of our military now for wanting peace? That's the impression I feel they're trying to give - some sort of freaky way to excuse an escalation.

[Postman]

18. In viewing the video interview of Ellsberg.....

at around 13:00 the question is asked of Ellsberg of "how about investing money into the Afghan Army"?

Interesting response by Ellsberg suggesting that there may be no "Afghan Army" to speak of since it has been US Marine units doing all the heavy lifting and that the money that has been "invested" into the "Afghan Army" since 2001 may be in some Swiss bank accounts.....

Wow, if that is true, this is totally f**ked up...

[ensho]

19. let them show their true colors and then let Obama fire them

nt