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April 9, 2006
Call For Mutiny

There is an bold piece in Time by Marine Lieut. General Greg Newbold. He is former director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and retired a few month before the war on Iraq.

It is nothing less than a call for mutiny to the officer corps to rise up against their civilian leaders.

He says the nation was fooled into Vietnam and into Iraq. After some ritual I love and support the troops, he takes on the administration for "gross errors in strategy" and "casualness and swagger". His former colleagues have "acted timidly when their voices urgently needed to be heard". Congress "defaulted in fulfilling their constitutional responsibility for oversight". The media "saw the warning signs" but gave "insufficient weight" to the views of (military) people criticising the war.

His conclusion:

We need fresh ideas and fresh faces. That means, as a first step, replacing Rumsfeld and many others unwilling to fundamentally change their approach. […]  It is time for senior military leaders to discard caution in expressing their views and ensure that the President hears them clearly. And that we won’t be fooled again.

The last sentence of course points to foolishness of a war on Iran.

There have been several small but unusuall public insurrections against Rumsfeld by General Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff. A lot of leaks pour out from the Pentagon. It is difficult to differentiate the information from the propaganda, but my  impression is that some people there are indeed very concerned.

More stands like Shinkesi’s and more pieces like Newbold’s are needed to avoid a war on Iran. Could there be a Staufenberg?

The officers are sworn to the constitution, not to their leaders. Time for them to remember themselfs of this.

Posted by b on April 9, 2006 at 17:31 UTC | Permalink
Comments

SIR! NO SIR!

Posted by: annie | Apr 9 2006 18:17 utc | 1

“who is more american than us?”

Posted by: annie | Apr 9 2006 18:21 utc | 2

Nimmo makes for interesting reading this sunday morning…Neocon Plan to Wreck the Economy

I don’t claim to be an economist. On the other hand, as a novice student of history, I understand how government manipulates people through economic manipulation and engineered crises. I believe the Straussian neocons are fascists masquerading as “conservatives” and even a cursory examination of their cobbled together philosophy—a large dose of Straussian “ethics,” a dash of Trotsky’s perpetual revolution, a pinch of Jacobin militancy and debauchery—and a general overview of history reveals what they have in mind for us. I believe they are capable, through their sock puppet Bush the Minor, a “dry alcoholic” and Manichean nihilist parading as a “conservative,” of looting the treasury, siphoning off trillions from the Pentagon, and engineering the crash of the economy in order to realize their vision of a Machiavellian hell on earth where they rule and the superstitious masses, infused with coarse nationalism and religion, are expected to follow.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Apr 9 2006 19:11 utc | 3

My aged relative swore to me that Time had changed and started passing me copies.
As for calls to mutiny, though it was pretty muted as I read it, I’m all for soldiers resisting. If they would all just sit down and play cards or read – Playboy or the Koran, no matter, the world would be a better place.
Fake inteligence, bad planning, poor command, not enough troops, no chasing after AlQ, policy failures, casualness and swagger, in the article’s words, all this is a tired litany, published over and over again.
The author follows the Gvmt. script. He is not against war, has deep respect and affection for troops, and thinks it would be a mistake to withdraw from Iraq right now.
The reasons for the invasion (or the sanctions) are nowhere mentioned or put into question.
It all boils down to the old incompetence theory.
– Invoked over and over again – 9/11, Katrina, Iraq war, Afghanistan, etc. Saw Kerry on the TV yesterday – he laments the lack of diplomacy!
Hand wringing after the fact, providing yet another occasion for quarrels between left and right, deep division is US society, polarisation on issues that skirt the fundamental questions, confuse everyone. The US is a failed state that has descended into sectarianism, obfuscation and trivia.
The unstated conclusions seems to be that Rumsfeld must go, a better commander can properly handle future sorties. The generals should be listened to – they understand the situation on the ground. Yeah.
However, the pov of view expressed has not a hope in hell of having any effect at all. In an authoritarian society, proto-fascist according to some, with rigged elections, a dumbed down populace, people will obey. Do obey. Will continue to obey. The masters may shift their discourse slightly. History presents plenty of examples.

Posted by: Noisette | Apr 9 2006 20:22 utc | 4

@Noisette – you are, in parts, right.
That guy is a general and he will never be able to leave that mindset. But he saw the War On Iraq as a serious mistake before it was launched.

I made no secret of my view that the zealots’ rationale for war made no sense. And I think I was outspoken enough to make those senior to me uncomfortable. But I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat—al-Qaeda. I retired from the military four months before the invasion, in part because of my opposition to those who had used 9/11’s tragedy to hijack our security policy. Until now, I have resisted speaking out in public. I’ve been silent long enough.

I don´t know if he lies here, but I do not see any contradiction or motiv to do so. Let’s give some credit where it’s due.
However, the pov of view expressed has not a hope in hell of having any effect at all. […] The masters may shift their discourse slightly. History presents plenty of examples.
Yes, history presents plenty of examples. Such regimes as you see have been brought down before and will be in future. The costs to do so are high and you do need some alliances to do so.
Pissing off everybody because s/he is not ‘pure’, doesn´t help much.

Posted by: b | Apr 9 2006 21:24 utc | 5

The U.S. has many problems but it is far from a failed state. Many of us want to keep it from ever getting to that point. And if Bush and co. keep edging towards armed provocation of Iran, our numbers will only grow.

Posted by: Maxcrat | Apr 9 2006 22:17 utc | 6

@B:
Newbold figures prominently in Trainor’s book Cobra II as a source at the pentagon. Hell of a book that. Excellent detail and documentation of this farce.
I was preparing to sent you the Time link as a subject for a post.
Glad you found it.

Posted by: Groucho | Apr 10 2006 0:19 utc | 7

Thanks for link to BBC film of march to New Orleans by US veterans now back from Iraq.
Did this march get any/much coverage in US?

Posted by: Dismal Scienc3 | Apr 10 2006 14:41 utc | 8

Could there be a Staufenberg?
No way. Not even funny.

Posted by: Wolf DeVoon | Apr 10 2006 15:25 utc | 9

Did this march get any/much coverage in US?
not that i know of

Posted by: annie | Apr 10 2006 15:37 utc | 10

The author follows the Gvmt. script. He is not against war, has deep respect and affection for troops, and thinks it would be a mistake to withdraw from Iraq right now

while I don’t accept the stated rationale for invading Iraq, my view–at the moment–is that a precipitous withdrawal would be a mistake. It would send a signal, heard around the world, that would reinforce the jihadists’ message that America can be defeated, and thus increase the chances of future conflicts. If, however, the Iraqis prove unable to govern, and there is open civil war, then I am prepared to change my position.

i think the gov’ts script is that we should stay and finish the job we started and not give in, ever. if the terrorists know we are planning to leave we empower them etc.
i see this as a big step for time. not exactly as bastion of liberal thought. it also presents a view that murtha mentions, that top military brass are not happy w/bush. this is a major publication. my mom reads time. she never reads the paper, doesn’t follow politics much, gets all her news via her weekly time mag.

Posted by: annie | Apr 10 2006 15:49 utc | 11

No way. Not even funny.
preposterous

Posted by: annie | Apr 10 2006 15:51 utc | 12

Bio

Posted by: Groucho | Apr 11 2006 6:43 utc | 13

On the topic of Mutiny, Wayne Madsen weighs in today w/this:
there is growing chatter from the Pentagon that relations between the uniformed military leadership and the political civilian hierarchy are at an all time low. Many current and retired flag rank officers are criticizing the Iraq war and warning that any attack on Iran will be the last straw. In this context, the “last straw” may include proactive action to curtail the Bush administration’s control of U.S. military forces.
(At what level does one become a “flag rank officer”?)

Posted by: jj | Apr 11 2006 9:21 utc | 14

(At what level does one become a “flag rank officer”?)
Rear Admiral or the equivalent Brigade General, i.e. O7 and higher

Posted by: b | Apr 11 2006 11:02 utc | 15

thanks, b-.
I know this is an old thread, but were it not for this thread I might not have thght. twice when I saw this.
Air Force Posted Security info on Chimpy’s McJets on Web
Air Force and Pentagon officials scrambled Monday to remove highly sensitive security details about the two Air Force One jetliners after The Chronicle reported that the information had been posted on a public Web site.
The security information — contained in a “technical order” — is used by rescue crews in the event of an emergency aboard various Air Force planes. But this order included details about Air Force One’s anti-missile systems, the location of Secret Service personnel within the aircraft and information on other vulnerabilities that terrorists or a hostile military force could exploit to try to damage or destroy Air Force One, the president’s air carrier.
Screw up, or passing along inside info. to would be mutineers?

Posted by: jj | Apr 12 2006 0:13 utc | 16

@jj – on the air force one security scam see here. I commented there by posting part of the documents which are still on the web.

Posted by: b | Apr 12 2006 15:29 utc | 17

To Lt. General Newbold we can now add MAJ. GEN. JOHN BATISTE (ret.) and Gen. George Joulwan (ret. former SACEUR).
Quite some stars coming out now.

Posted by: b | Apr 12 2006 15:33 utc | 18

Add MG Charles Swanneck(Ret):
A lot of these people must have quit in the last 2 years out of frustration.

Posted by: Groucho | Apr 13 2006 21:23 utc | 19

NYT doesn`t count Joulwan?!
More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld’s Resignation

Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who led troops on the ground in Iraq as recently as 2004 as the commander of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, on Thursday became the fifth retired senior general in recent days to call publicly for Mr. Rumsfeld’s ouster. Also Thursday, another retired Army general, Maj. Gen. John Riggs, joined in the fray.
“We need to continue to fight the global war on terror and keep it off our shores,” General Swannack said in a telephone interview. “But I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq.”

Posted by: b | Apr 14 2006 4:43 utc | 20

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