I live on the People's Republic of Martha's Vineyard, an island vaguely associated with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Not a very Republican place; in the last election Bush came in third here, behind Gore and Nader.
At a friend's picnic last night I met a fellow who was speaking about news from Iraq. Claimed to be in touch with a lot of people in the Army there, and that they were telling him, contrary to some media reports, that morale was OK and their supplies were adequate and things were not going badly. Asked why we hear so much negative news, he said, "every unit has disgruntled people," and "retired generals on TV want to say something interesting, to say 'we told you so' . . ."
I was getting irritated but bit my tongue. Didn't want to create a row. But then. . .
well it turned out that he knew a lot of people now in Iraq because he had been in Desert Storm, and kept in touch with people who were still in the service. "His classmates."
This guy, by the way, was a medical equipment salesman. From Texas. Texans are pretty rare visitors to Martha's Vineyard. I thought I had him pegged: Texas Bushista flag-waver who believes that just because he has served in Iraq he knows it all . . . Figured he had been a staff sargeant brought up from the reserves.
So I asked him about his outfit in Desert Storm, and what he had done. He was quite knowledgeable. He spoke casually of the order of battle, which units were where, which moved when against which objectives, his unit's roll in the strategy, etc. He and I exchanged some Arabic (which I recalled from my Peace Corps days); he said he used to speak it pretty well, and I believed him.
And when I found out he had been an officer in charge of a lead unit, I asked whether he had come up through the ranks or had done ROTC. "I went to the Academy," he said. "Oh," I said. "Which Academy?" my wife asked me. "West Point," I said. So that explained why a lot of his "classmates" were in Iraq. He had been a captain in the artillery.
I asked him about Gulf War Syndrome and we talked about that (I have written a novel about Gulf War syndrome. ..).
Anyway then my wife aked him something about West Point and why he had gone there. He said that he had planned to make a career out of the Army. But after Desert Storym it became clear to him, he said, that his political opinions had closed off any real chance of advancement. The Army has ways of telling you your career isn't going anywhere. He was given dead-end assignments, and it was made clear to him that his opinions were not welcome.
And then he said, "I pointed out that our republic was in grave danger of becoming an imperial dictatorship and that our military was being subcontracted to politicians to advance personal, rather than national aims. I didn't like the increasing segregation of military from normal civil society. And I was really afraid of imperial overreach and what it might do to the Army."
So I had that sudden recognition that I had prejudged this guy unfairly. I was glad that I had not blurted out anything earlier in the conversation when my blood pressure had shot up. . .
And then he talked about the history of the Roman Empire, and how two of the three guys in the original triumverate -- Julius Caesar and Mark Antony -- had great military credentials, but the third one did not, so he basically set out to prove he was a man by invading Iraq. Where his army got stretched out, out foxed, and destroyed, the first real defeat of the Roman Imperium.
About that time his 18 month old twins became demanding and the party was breaking up, so the conversation ended.
I don't know if I would have gotten along with this guy or not, politically, but he seemed bright enough and genuine.
If what he said was true, that he, a competent West Point grad with considerable combat command experience, was driven out of the service because he expressed strong preference for democratic republic over dictatorial empire. . .
Well, it was a pretty dispiriting conversation.
I may ask my friend Steve (at whose house was the picnic occured) how to get in touch with this guy to continue the conversation.
Steve, by the way, was drafted in late 67, arrived in Nam just as TET was going off, spent 13 months in daily combat with the 11th ACR, got shot, had a tank land on top of him. . . He knows a thing or two about politicians who don't tell the truth about wars. His views about Bushco not suitable for a family site like this. . .
(Actually I'm not quite sure that Bush came in third for the whole island. Maybe it was only my town. . . I should look it up)