All of the reports of the high morale of the troops have been noted, and probably are true. But they are probably a lot less true for National Guard units. Now we get a report from the LA Times of a Sergeant First Class fragging his commanding officer.
As was usual in Viet Nam, this is a support unit, not a combat unit. This is another indicator that Bush and Rumsfeld has destroyed our Army Reserves and Guard with repeated deployments and stop-loss orders, also known as the Back Door Draft. The only thing that is surprising about this is that it has been reported to the public.
This incident is really sad. Not surprising, but really sad. It is the direct responsibility of conservative Republicans who have been enamored with the so-called American status as "The Superpower."
Direct responsibility? The SFC who fragged his commander, of course. But behind him is Sec of Defense Rumsfeld who overrode his military advisors when they told him and Congress that more troops would be required in Iraq after combat operations were over.
Also responsible is George W. Bush. "W" is an ignorant, biased man who had the advantages of wealth, family and personal social skills that allowed him to be made into a superb politician. Unfortunately, he knows nothing about society in general, government or the process of governing. Those were subjects that simply never interested him, and he learned nothing that did not interest him. His drug and alcohol abuse in the past clearly indicates that he had and currently has emotional problems. When, very likely through his ineptitude in managing government and the attitude of his government team that anything the Clinton administration had done was wrong, he permitted 9/11 to occur, he had no idea what to do. His only experience in the military was as a technician trained to fly an aircraft, and he ducked out on that. So it is obvious that he turned to the ex-Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney.
Dick Cheney is one of the PaleoConservatives whose clearest characteristic is that they are interested primarily in power and military force. When 9/11 occurred, and Bush was floundering for a response, he had one. Send in the military. Since the entire Bush team agreed with G. W. Bush that one of his father's major mistakes was to fail to finish the job in Iraq and because the 9/11 attack was clearly a terrorist attack on America by an Islamic cult, the entire Presidential team focused on the opportunity to use the military on the Arabs in the Middle East.
The refusal to consider foreign assistance against the terrorists after 9/11 and the ill advised invasion of Iraq, together with the refusal to manage government properly to pay for the war they started, all have led to the destruction of our military forces. The failure to get out of Iraq or expand the military to adequately handle the occupation have put severe strains on the members of the military and especially on the Guard and Reserve. These unfair strains on our military set the conditions in which some individual who is pushed beyond his limits feels his only solution is to kill his commanding officer.
Actually, the members of the Bush Administration should understand him and empathize with his actions. It was the fact that they were so totally out of their depth when Osama bin Laden sent the planes against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (as the representative institutions of America) that led them to a very similar irrational lashing out against anyone who might be related to the enemies who attacked America.
I wonder how many more people will have to die before the Bush administration admits how badly they have screwed everything up and returns control of America to the adults? Whenever, it is now too late for Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez, Capt. Phillip T. Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen.
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