tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post8826463547593989554..comments2024-03-26T05:18:53.709-04:00Comments on Pen and Sword: Judging the Generals, Part IIIJeff Huberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146644937683409726noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-85865553050418659762007-07-18T13:14:00.000-04:002007-07-18T13:14:00.000-04:00People like "Comrade" Huber are to Osama bin Laden...People like "Comrade" Huber are to Osama bin Laden what Monica Lewinsky was to bill clinton. Just another Neo-JihadistAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-12822113643744989302007-06-27T13:21:00.000-04:002007-06-27T13:21:00.000-04:00You know, I've never had tripe, stewed, fried, or ...You know, I've never had tripe, stewed, fried, or otherwise. I hear it's quite good, however, properly prepared, and bears no resemblance to the unforgettable and far less pleasnat taste of a sh*t sandwich.<BR/><BR/>Now, there might be an as-yet-undiscovered culinary trick to rendering the latter tasty (Giulliani, for instance, is running on a platform of Better Nation Building For the 21st Century, God help him) but for those who have had it any number of ways, it is a garbage disposal, not an Emeril, that is called for.trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14139410627244875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-51239453014898285012007-06-27T11:22:00.000-04:002007-06-27T11:22:00.000-04:00Thanks for the kind words, Jacob. Trish, I like "M...Thanks for the kind words, Jacob. <BR/><BR/>Trish, I like "Mulligan in Mesopotamia." Is it more like a tripe Mulligan? <BR/><BR/>Good point about Crocker and Petraeus. <BR/><BR/>JeffJeff Huberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14146644937683409726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-63656211676916591732007-06-26T22:45:00.000-04:002007-06-26T22:45:00.000-04:00Hey Commander...I've been following your series ab...Hey Commander...<BR/>I've been following your series about the Generals with interest at DailyKos. I wrote a diary on approximately the same subject at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/24/4170/56455<BR/><BR/>I'm think of posting again on a related subject, and it would be very very useful to me if you have the time to send some feedback, either at DailyKos or my email jacobfreeze at gmail.com<BR/><BR/>I only became aware of your excellent series after someone mentioned it in a post, and I might not have written on something so close to the same subject if I had known you were already on top of it.<BR/><BR/>I see a lot of the Army through the lens of Jack Pershing, who has been a hero in my family for three generations. So my perspective strongly tilts in that direction.<BR/><BR/>Congratulations on your excellent series!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-30900704177388169862007-06-26T22:00:00.000-04:002007-06-26T22:00:00.000-04:00The question everyone should be asking of all the ...The question everyone should be asking of all the generals and admirals is "what good are you doing?"<BR/><BR/> - Jeff<BR/><BR/>Of course, the question everyone should be asking is, "What good is our policy doing?" You know, that policy of the civilian leadership whose execution the military is tasked with? This is the fundamental question that gets lost, and remains unanswered, when the focus is on two-, three-, and four-star performance. People demand to know, "Who f*cked up my perfectly good war?" rather than, "Who's atrocious idea was this?"<BR/><BR/>Which brings me to another point: To call it a war is to glorify it. That war was over in weeks. Since then it has been an armed nation building exercise. A policing and reconstruction endeavor. A wholesale civil and political overhaul. A work of social re-engineering in the midst of multiple insurgencies and an irreversible national unraveling. What need have you of a Patton or a Grant were one readily available?<BR/><BR/>It's not even a "shitty little war," as my dad refers to them. It's a shitty little state building exercise. Like the Balkans, only with body bags. The Balkans caused a revolt within the same military, leading many to embrace candidate Bush who expressly rejected such interminable and ambiguous military endeavors. ("Help is on the way!" HA HA. The joke was on us.) <BR/><BR/>If the policy was unwise to begin with; if the strategy was supremely goofy and in all ways counterproductive; if the intervention itself was contrary to any objectively-understood national interest, no general was going to be able to salvage it.<BR/><BR/>Petraeus said, upon taking the job, that "there is no military solution" in Iraq. About that, he is correct. Unfortunately it is he, rather than Crocker, that the admin has chosen as the face of their Mulligan in Mesopotamia.<BR/><BR/>What I hold against some of the generals is their willing perpetuation of a mission that, despite the heroic and steadfast efforts of so many, cannot succeed.trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14139410627244875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-6003476282328994442007-06-26T18:37:00.000-04:002007-06-26T18:37:00.000-04:00Tim, I'm glad to see Smedley getting so much recog...Tim, <BR/><BR/>I'm glad to see Smedley getting so much recognition lately. <BR/><BR/>Whi, <BR/><BR/>Excellent points. Thanks for stopping by and posting.Jeff Huberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14146644937683409726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-84478181153013953892007-06-26T18:34:00.000-04:002007-06-26T18:34:00.000-04:00This 3 part series is useful & very interesting.My...This 3 part series is useful & very interesting.<BR/><BR/>My opinion may be complementary & is not meant to be contrary.<BR/><BR/>Finding, discovering, surfacing, developing, etc., a brilliant & successful general or admiral is as random as electing a great president of the USA or assigning a first-rate corporate CEO.<BR/><BR/>Within the military hierarchy, & recognizing the actual "Peter Principle," experienced Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps & Coast Guard leaders should be well aware that an outstanding soldier, sailor, airman, marine, or coast guardsman is a rare find, even from a cohort of many thousands of enlisted personnel.<BR/><BR/>So, too, with the officers of all the services. When Bu$hKorp took over & began their distinctive processes of mal-administration, there were about 1,250 generals & admirals; now down to about 900. That is a very small group from which to expect a Bradley, Halsey, Arnold, Smith or Bertholf to emerge. From such few people, it is most likely that B+ quality administrators will "float" to the top.<BR/><BR/>It is also important to note that Dwight Eisenhower & George Marshall were not mud & blood experienced combat soldiers, Ernest King never commanded a warship in combat & Henry Arnold flew one combat mission in an aircraft.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-70045346801613471272007-06-26T15:46:00.000-04:002007-06-26T15:46:00.000-04:00MajGen Smedley Butler USMC had a few things to say...MajGen Smedley Butler USMC had a few things to say about protecting American interests.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com