DON’T TRUST THE MILITARY!
The blather sphere has whipped itself into a frenzy over Robert Gates’ comments in his book “Duty” on his tenure as Secretary of Defense under President Obama. From what I can see of the excerpts that have been published, and from even a cursory knowledge of history, what the media interprets as criticism, I see as praise.
Should President Obama have been skeptical and suspicious of the military advice he was given? Absolutely, in my opinion! There is no older complaint from the military than that they could have won (insert name of failed military venture here) if only they had more men, weapons, money, time, ...Stay the course!
The burden of proof should rest heavily on military leaders who recommend entering, continuing, or expanding wars that will kill thousands of Americans and foreigners, and spend huge amounts of American economic resources. Anyone who has studied history can recount many tales of military incompetence, arrogance and the huge unnecessary loss of lives that might have been avoided by not following the recommendations of some “very model of a modern major general.” From Antietam to Gallipoli and the Somme, from Tarawa to the Chosun Reservoir, the escalation in Vietnam, the invasion of Iraq; these and many other disasters resulted from the politicians acceding to the advice of their “commanders on the ground.”
A Cabinet Secretary like Robert Gates is not “the guy in charge.” He is a senior adviser and distiller of information and strategic choices that get presented to the decision-maker – the President. As any staffer in any venture knows, it is easy to skew options and information toward the decision that the staff wants. When the President is gullible, star-struck and ignorant of history, that task is even easier. And staffers hate getting push-back, skepticism, and hard questions. So the shift from Bush and Cheney to Obama and Biden must have been quite an unpleasant shock for Secretary Gates and the generals.
Was Obama wrong to suspect that he was being “gamed?” Were the generals working behind his back to limit his options to the ones they recommended? It’s hard to deny after reading the history. Should President Obama be buddies and trust Hamid Karzai? Would you? Is President Obama the perfect commander-in-chief? Probably not, but he developed a policy that he was elected to undertake, and he is doing it. Sorry about the budget cuts that reduce the consulting incomes of retired generals; sorry about the weapons systems that are no longer available to contractors to reap huge cost over-runs; sorry about the reduced promotion potential. Instead we can now spend so many more resources on the maimed and disabled, the PTSD and the ruined families and lives that resulted from listening to the advice of the “commanders on the ground” and the military establishment.