Maybe I'm upset because I think that instead of continuing to debate this guy, his credibility, and his motives, the supposed professionals here should actually speak to the issue. I don't give a hoot about the ethos of the foreign service and, whether they like it or not, I think that an educated military officer with DoD civilian time can figure out enough about DoS to write a letter about national strategy (not DoS PRT policy) when he's had enough. He's had much more than a few months in the overall foreign policy instrument of the government when you combine DoD and DoS time. And I do understand that Afghanistan is a very complex place. I don't disagree. I do believe that has become a vehicle to dismiss any argument people don't like though. "Oh, he's wrong because he doesn't understand the complexities of Afghanistan." Unstated: "I know better."

Again, where is the debate over his message, rather than him? Or maybe that is "generational"? One of the reasons why this country is politically where it is at right now is because we don't really consider issues anymore. We just attack the messenger. It does piss me off. Maybe I have PTSD.