Don’t misunderstand me. Duty, honor and service infuse every level of the military, throughout the enlisted and commissioned ranks. My own experience in both enlisted and officer ranks informs my knowledge of this.
But I was trained and served, though it was many years ago, as a line officer in the U.S. Navy; Like anyone with similar service in any of the uniformed branches I understand the gruesome responsibility that comes from having the lives of others in one’s hands. This is why honor, respect for truth and devotion to duty, among other important values, are so intrinsic to such service, even though such virtues have so far fallen out of style in so many other human pursuits.
Any officer receiving an order can be expected to say, “Aye aye!”, salute and carry on. Upon reporting about any performance of duty, an officer will strive to be scrupulously thorough, honest and complete, without evasion or material admission. This is what happened when the U.S. House of Representatives issued a subpoena ordering Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, to give a deposition in connection with the impeachment investigation against President Trump.
This is where it gets appalling. Instead of applauding the performance of duty by our uniformed military, as Americans are wont to do, some Republicans, sadly including the President himself, without any justification or factual basis, savagely attacked Colonel Vindman’s loyalty and integrity.
Consider this from the New York Times —
Colonel Vindman, who received a Purple Heart after he was wounded in Iraq, is a Ukrainian-American immigrant who was 3 years old when his family fled to the United States. On her Fox News program on Monday, the conservative host Laura Ingraham sought to turn his ethnic background against him, noting that Ukrainian officials had recently sought the colonel’s advice about interacting with Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani.
“Here we have a U.S. national security official who is advising Ukraine while working inside the White House, apparently against the president’s interest,” Ms. Ingraham said. “Isn’t that kind of an interesting angle on this story?”
Her guest, John Yoo, a former top lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, agreed. “I find that astounding,” Mr. Yoo said. “Some people might call that espionage.”
These attacks on this officer should be taken personally by veterans in general but particularly by any military officer, no matter where or when he or she served. To be sure, Congresswoman, Liz Cheney (R-WY), condemned these attacks on Colonel Vindman but such a feeble voice from a dim corner of the Republican House minority has little more value than as a stalking horse against the gale of attacks issuing from the the White House and Fox News Channel. Her protest does nothing to erase that despicable insult these voices have delivered to those in American uniformed service.
With specific reference to Colonel Vindman’s service, since his time at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, this man has held himself under an obligation to never lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do. Thus, he did today.
The GOP attack dogs came out with what they always do when attacking the innocent and honorable. It’s standard stuff from the GOP Attack Manual, Chapter XII, Swiftboating.
To summarize, 1) pick an enemy to attack; 2) identify your foe’s greatest strengths and virtues; 3) recast those strengths in the most dishonest and negative way than can be done via hints, insinuations and ominous sounding ambiguities; 4) scrupulously avoid straying any where near the actual topic being discussed; 5) Repeat.
Easy Peasy.
Every current and former American military officer should be appalled.