We Won't Get Fooled Aga-- uh, oh

In my youth I was too much of an arrogant, anti-authoritarian to last long in the military so I never enlisted.  To this day that is one of my greatest regrets.  My view of the military then was none too flattering but then I had never met any serviceman like
Lieut. General Greg Newbold (ret.).  

General Newbold retired from the military four months prior to the invasion of Iraq, in part as a protest against that wrong-headed move, and he has an Op-Ed piece in this week’s issue of TIME.  I heartily recommend you read it in its entirety.  To give you a taste, here’s a particularly choice cut:

I will admit my own prejudice: my deep affection and respect are for those who volunteer to serve our nation and therefore shoulder, in those thin ranks, the nation's most sacred obligation of citizenship. To those of you who don't know, our country has never been served by a more competent and professional military. For that reason, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent statement that "we" made the "right strategic decisions" but made thousands of "tactical errors" is an outrage. It reflects an effort to obscure gross errors in strategy by shifting the blame for failure to those who have been resolute in fighting. The truth is, our forces are successful in spite of the strategic guidance they receive, not because of it.

General Newbold challenges our military officers to be real leaders and “give voice to those who can’t”.  As he points out, the enlisted are sworn to those appointed over them; an officer swears an oath to the Constitution.  Finally, he calls for the replacement of Secretary of Defense Donald “Six Days, Six Weeks, certainly not Six Months” Rumsfeld.

This general deserves our thanks not only for his service while in uniform but for his civilian service now.