tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031660.post110368042590028956..comments2023-08-18T11:38:34.671-05:00Comments on Musings of a Merry Mad Monk: NegligenceMerryMadMonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10004284568382467539noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031660.post-1103865407352649232004-12-23T23:16:00.000-06:002004-12-23T23:16:00.000-06:00Tae,
Please share with us why you think that the...Tae, <br /><br />Please share with us why you think that the SECDEF/chain-of-command take only -- or prefer only -- scripted questions. <br /><br />Specialist Wilson's question was fine. All the media-generated brouhaha about the "reporter setup" aside, it was a legitimate question. Rumsfeld answered from the perspective of a Secretary of Defense. Everyone's free to disagree with Rumsfeld's answer, but he didn't dodge the question -- and Specialist Wilson wasn't punished for asking it. Nor should he be. That would be stupid.<br /><br />It is a myth that our soldiers are not permitted to ask whatever question they want. As long as it's respectful (i.e. You may not preface it with something like: Looka here, fancypants), soldiers are encouraged to question their leaders. <br /><br />One of the things I'm most proud of is the culture of openess/criticism/self-criticism in the Army. It was not always so.<br /><br />Back in the early 80s some very smart Army leaders set up the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California -- out in the Mojave Desert.<br /><br />It's a place our units go to practice combat skills. For 14 days they fight battles against a highly trained Opposing Force or OPFOR. After each battle there are After Action Reviews in which the soldiers and unit leaders discuss what went good, what went wrong, what needs to be improved. The discussions are facilitated by Observers/Controllers (Officers/NCOs whose job it is to help evaluate a unit's performance).<br /><br />These After Action Reviews are brutally honest. Not for the thin-skinned, nor weak of heart. Any question can be asked. I wish every American could observe this process.<br /><br />Good soldiers do not shy away from asking tough questions. Good leaders do not shy away from answering tough questions.<br /><br />Show me a unit where this is not so and I'll show you a 100 where it is so.<br /><br />I can see where some civilians might believe otherwise. Afterall, from what I've seen of the civilian side, and especially the corporate side, this type of criticism/self-criticism isn't practiced.<br /><br />As to Secretary Rumsfeld specifically, I can go by what my friends (Officers and NCOs mostly in combat arms units) in the services tell me. When they've had occasion to meet with Secretary Rumsfeld, they've felt that he has embraced this type of openess. And, to me, that is not surprising from what little I know about the SECDEF.<br /><br />M³MerryMadMonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10004284568382467539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031660.post-1103838538579449382004-12-23T15:48:00.000-06:002004-12-23T15:48:00.000-06:00Yes, tae. Pretty much off topic.
I'll let it sli...Yes, tae. Pretty much off topic. <br /><br />I'll let it slide this time, but next time it'll be Gitmo for you.MerryMadMonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10004284568382467539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031660.post-1103812393746233412004-12-23T08:33:00.000-06:002004-12-23T08:33:00.000-06:00strictly speaking. . .
this is off-topic for this...strictly speaking. . .<br /><br />this is off-topic for this post in this blog, but some times one sees things, and one must speak, despite this not being "the perfect place." <br /><br />this is one of those times.<br /><br />[i may, additionally, post this as a <A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Ftheanchoress.blogspot.com%2F2004%2F12%2Foscar-wilde-would-understand.html">comment at anchoress</A>'s joint as well, inasmuch as i first saw it linked there.<br /><br />and then, i saw yours, merry-mad-monk, linked by anchoress, in one day's later set of posts. . . so i arrive here, having read several things, blood fairly boiling. . . forgive the froth, then:]<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Fjewishworldreview.com%2F1204%2Fblankley1.asp">tony blankley</A> recently wrote:<br /><br /><I>". . .Several senators and congressmen who<br />have been in town for decades hate Mr. <br />Rumsfeld's <B>logic</B> that you fight<br />a war with the army you've got. . ."</I>while i won't presume to speak for any of <I>"washington's-little-people"</I> he chastises elsewhere in that piece, actually, mr. blankley, i hate the <B>lack of logic</B> in the decision of messrs. rumsfeld, et al., to go to war with this army at all. . . and, we did not "go to war."<br /><br />we invaded a foreign country -- a country that by all <I>accurate</I> accounts -- had <B>not</B> attacked the united states (let's get our rhetoric untangled here, tony).<br /><br />we made an illogical "choice" to invade a nation on the opposite side of the globe, with an under-staffed, under-armored, army.<br /><br />the reduction of our forces is in no way logically connected to the lack-of-need to undertake this mission at all -- we went to remove imaginary weapons; we went under-armed.<br /><br />i might reverse the question and ask -- <B>logically</B>, mr. rumsfeld -- why, if you knew this was the army "you had" -- why oh why, did you go at all? <br /><br />i always hear conservatives yap about making more "responsible choices." well, here's one for your crowd, mr. blankley:<br /><br />be <B>responsible</B> enough to <B>understand</B> fully the risks in the intemperate choices messrs. rumsfeld, wolfowitz and bush 43 made. be <I>responsible</I> enough to admit that a repeated drum-beat of suicide bombers -- lately in a mosul military camp mess-tent, at chow-time -- was a scenario these gents did not fully vet, or understand. be <I>responsible</I> enough to admit that winning the <I>"hearts and minds"</I> of the "liberated" is at best, a largely-unacheived goal, at this point. <br /><br />be <I>responsible</I> enough to admit that we may never do so.<br /><br />if i took ten minutes on news.google.com, i could drag out 20-some quotes of how the mission in iraq has/had been accomplished. be responsible -- and logical -- enough to admit that messrs. rumsfeld, wolfowitz and bush 43 were <br /><br />w r o n g<br /><br />about that. they took an under-armored army -- in a then-vaunted lightning-strike tactic -- and over-ran a vast expanse of territory they had, and have, almost no hope of actually, permanently, securing. they bet that the <I>"hearts and minds"</I> of the <I>"liberated"</I> would mirror those of w.w. ii's v-e day, not so-much those we more recently encountered in hanoi. [and we all now know gen. colin powell, a man who actually walked those rice-paddies, m-16 shouldered, in viet-nam, told them <I>repeatedly</I> about this risk. so what did they do in response? they stopped inviting him to the meetings. courageous. logical. um. . . not.]<br /><br />so, let's get logical: don't go invade a foreign nation if you haven't the tools -- or the <B>personal responsiblity</B>, more precisely -- to actually sign, with your <B>own pen in hand, mr. rumsfeld</B>, the letters informing these fine soldiers' parents of the loss of their sons and daughters in action. . . the idea that he wouldn't even be troubled to ink his own signature to these letters, preferring instead to use a computer-generated signature device, speaks volumes about his disconnect from his <I>personal repsonsibility</I> for their deaths, doesn't it? <br /><br />and please don't let anyone<br />tell me he is "too busy." for then i<br />will have to get all cro-magnon on they' a$$.<br /><br />increase the <br /><br />p e a c e<br /><br />-- tae, out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031660.post-1103767098905716842004-12-22T19:58:00.000-06:002004-12-22T19:58:00.000-06:00Thanks for your comments.
I hesitated writing th...Thanks for your comments. <br /><br />I hesitated writing this post -- I'm, obviously, not on the ground in Iraq and I do not enjoy second-guessing commanders who are. <br /><br />Thanks in advance for linking, Anchoress.<br /><br />El Jefe, thanks for the book recommendations. I stopped by your blog earlier today and read and read and read.<br /><br />Yuni, thanks. I also visited your blog today .. and no, I don't think you're crazy -- although I must admit I'm quite fascinated with the <A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Fyuniesspace.blogspot.com%2F2004%2F12%2Fam-i-crazy.html">phenomenon</A>.MerryMadMonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10004284568382467539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031660.post-1103766892625272882004-12-22T19:54:00.000-06:002004-12-22T19:54:00.000-06:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.MerryMadMonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10004284568382467539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8031660.post-1103684354933237182004-12-21T20:59:00.000-06:002004-12-21T20:59:00.000-06:00This was a good post. Looked around your blog a bi...This was a good post. Looked around your blog a bit and liked it. Our reading tastes are similar. If you liked Guns of August -- have a look at Norman Stone's "The Eastern Front" (East Front WWI), which has been reprinted in the last couple of years and shouldn't be hard to find. One of the best military histories at the higher echelon/political level that I've ever read. Another author you might like is David Glantz -- writes on WW II Russia. Lately, I've had all my Vietnam stuff out and have been looking at it again. Hope the brass hats have looked back at Operation Phoenix. Have a look at my blog sometime.El Jefe Maximohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14661511063910659377noreply@blogger.com