In Afghan War, Officer Becomes a Whistle-Blower
A British think tank contact alerted me to this NYT article 'In Afghan War, Officer Becomes a Whistle-Blower' (it is shown on today's SWJ Blog):http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/wo...n&st=cse&scp=2
Slightly edited passage
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How many more men must die in support of a mission that is not succeeding? No one expects our leaders to always have a successful plan...But we do expect — and the men who do the living, fighting and dying deserve — to have our leaders tell us the truth about what’s going on.
The US Army Colonel's original article was 'Truth, lies and Afghanistan' and appears in AFJ:http://armedforcesjournal.com/2012/02/8904030
He starts with:
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I spent last year in Afghanistan, visiting and talking with U.S. troops and their Afghan partners. My duties with the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force took me into every significant area where our soldiers engage the enemy. Over the course of 12 months, I covered more than 9,000 miles and talked, traveled and patrolled with troops in Kandahar, Kunar, Ghazni, Khost, Paktika, Kunduz, Balkh, Nangarhar and other provinces.
What I saw bore no resemblance to rosy official statements by U.S. military leaders about conditions on the ground.
The author has his own blogsite and awaits official permission to publish his full, unclassified report on Afghanistan and has some good photos:http://www.afghanreport.com/
This side of the Atlantic I am aware of a few serving British Army officers who have reached similar conclusions and resigned or taken early retirement. I am sure other US military have spoken out, but how many continue to serve and so far without **** falling on them?
Added: there are two SWJ Blog posts on this matter now and a cross-reference has been added: http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/mid...y-leadership-0 and http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/tru...nd-afghanistan
College Degree-ism Not Terrorism Is The Greatest Threat We Face!
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Originally Posted by
carl
As far as the military goes, I do have one suggestion. Close all the military academies. They are institutions that teach from the very beginning, that accomplishment and talent are must yield to seniority, and that rank must not be questioned no matter how stupid it acts.
What an idea.....like I have been saying it is not Communism or Terrorism that will do us in..... it College Degree-ism!!!!! that is the real threat to all Mankind:eek: They have all kinds of degrees but their.... Moms didn't give em no Schoolin....as we say down South.
Then Congroids will not be able to reward the sons and daughters of supporters...
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Originally Posted by
carl
If we don't come up with a remedy, one will be imposed upon us from without.
True.
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That is a commonly used argumentative technique to disarm someone who points out what is wrong, "well if you don't have the answer to the problem, don't complain." That is not a valid argument.
We can disagree on that point.
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The flaw still exists whether or not the person who reports it is able to come up with a detailed solution to the problem (especially in an internet point-counterpoint limited to x characters).
That much of what you're contending is true. But:
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Isn't saying the complaint is made in a pejorative holier than thou tone, pejorative?
Absolutely.
However, it's not holier than thou. There's nothing wrong and there are many things right with pointing out errors of omission or commission. Not many including me can or will object to that but I personally don't have much use for condescending or sanctimonious tones in so doing. That's a personal thing and admittedly it entails subjective judgement on my part but I don't think it's at all helpful to use such an approach and I think it can take an important message and cause it to be ignored because the delivery method, choice of words or tone obscured the message.
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The simple solution is to the problem of lying is to stop. There is no simple solution to the cultural belief that truth isn't sacred. You're right, I don't know how to solve that by my little old self except by pointing out when it isn't being told whenever I can.
In order, you're right about the lying and there being no simple solution -- it's a people thing, not a military thing. One can expect the armed forces to be above that -- but one can also expect priests, preachers, teachers, doctors, judges and cops to be above a lot of things. One can be disappointed a lot...
Nothing wrong with pointing it out. However, as someone once said, "There's no sense in being one of those folks who can pi$% people off when he give 'em a ten minute break...":wry:
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As far as the military goes, I do have one suggestion. Close all the military academies. They are institutions that teach from the very beginning, that accomplishment and talent are must yield to seniority, and that rank must not be questioned no matter how stupid it acts.
Works for me and I agree. How you and I can get that done is another matter. And I suspect most of the Academy grads who read this will put both you and I down as folks to be ignored... ;)
Sort of harsh messages can grate on readers or listeners, people home in on the slam effect and miss the broader, more important message which, in this case is:
The need for immediate, unthinking obedience served a valid military purpose for many centuries but it has become a harmful anachronism in the last 100 or so years.