Note: Huber's credentials are at article's end...
In Case You Wonder Where I Stand
by Jeff Huber
Late last week and through the weekend we heard more of the same self contradicting war rhetoric from the administration, the Pentagon, and the usual gang of echo chamberlains.
A ratified constitution is vital to success in Iraq, but if it isn't ratified that might be okay, because a ratified constitution might make the insurgency even worse. If it doesn't pass and things do get worse, that's okay too because we anticipated it.
Only Iraqi's can defeat the insurgency. As occupiers, our presence actually contributes to the strength of the insurgency.
Iraqi forces are making progress toward being able to handle the insurgency themselves, even though they've gone from having three ready battalions to only having one.
Until Iraqi forces are ready to handle the insurgency, we can't make plans to draw down our presence in the country, even though our presence in the country contributes to the strength of the insurgency.
And the pro-war pundits! They refuse to compare Iraq to Vietnam, but they're happy to equate it with the American Revolution, our Civil War, and World War II whenever the mood strikes them.
We're stuck in a generational quagmire, and all our "leaders" have to offer us by way of explanation is the standard menu of memes, catch phrases, and double talking points. Lamentably, old military beat hands in the mainstream media can't call the Pentagon's bull manure what it is because they're "reporter," not columnists. And the mainstream columnists are either in the administration's pocket or they're afraid to take on the Pentagon because they're completely out of their depth when it comes to military matters.
Our political and military leaders are stringing us along. The Iraq excursion has been a dishonest, immoral, and incompetently run fiasco from the outset. This has to change, and it's high time to debunk the right wing mantra that "real" Americans support their president and the military in time of war.
"Real" Americans are not loyal subjects. They are citizens. The president is not America's commander in chief. He is commander in chief of America's military. And America does not exist to support its military. The military exists to support America.
By committing our military to a bad war in pursuit his neocon cronies' agenda, Mister Bush has mis-served our country and the troops we have placed under his command.
By continuing to support Mister Bush, our generals are not only placing political loyalty above their oath to uphold the constitution, they are betraying the trust of the troops who serve under them.
They should resign.
And real Americans should demand an accounting from Mister Bush and his minions/puppet masters.
Commander Jeff Huber, US Navy (Retired) was a flight instructor, operations officer of Carrier Air Wing 9 and the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, and commanding officer of VAW-124, an E-2C Hawkeye squadron. Jeff's satires on military and foreign policy affairs have appeared in Proceedings, The Navy, Military, and GlobalEar. His essays have been required student reading at the U.S. Naval War College, where Jeff received a master's degree in national security studies in 1995. He recently co-authored an article on command and control of naval forces for Jane's Fighting Ships. Jeff lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia where he writes, plays with his dogs, works on his house, and does the occasional bit of (ahem) consulting work.
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