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FW: A Rare Breed of Generals
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roseto, CW5 Joseph P. CCJ1-MPAR
> Sent: April 16,1999 10:15
> To: Spencer, LTC Thomas CCJ1-AG; Pearl, GS-12 Tony A. CCJ1-MPMO;
> Niederriter, CW2 James S.; Cooper, Maj Philip S. CCJ1
> Subject: FW: A Rare Breed of Generals
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peterman, Ronald W. CW4 [SMTP:petermar@socom.mil]
> Sent: April 16,1999 08:57
> To: Jerry D; CG Assistant; Mr. CMH; 'Rosetojp@centcom.mil'; Stan;
> Sutterfield, Thomas (10SFG); Chap; Parkr; Santos, Rafael, CW3; TG
> Subject: FW: A Rare Breed of Generals
>
>
>
> > > > A RARE BREED OF GENERALS
> > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > > > By David H. Hackworth, 23 March 1999
> > > >
> > > > What is it with most Marine generals? Do they get inoculated with
> > > double
> > > > shots of truth serum in boot camp? From two-time Congressional Medal
> > > of
> > > > Honor recipient Smedley Butler-- who in the 1930s said, "War is a
> > > > Racket"-- to the current crop, they sure know how to tell it like it
> > > is and don't
> > > > sweat the fall out.
> > > >
> > > > Recently, Marine Gen. Charles Wilhelm, headman for all our troops
> > > South of
> > > > the Rio Grande, told Congress our forces haven't been able to tame
> > > the
> > > > natives in Haiti and the longer they're stuck in that strife-torn
> > > swamp,
> > > > the more they're at risk. He advocated yanking our troops and
> > > writing off the
> > > > $6 billion "meals-on-wheels" mission as a failure.
> > > >
> > > > That took a lot of guts, because the Clinton administration has been
> > >
> > > > crowing about what a splendid success the Haitian mission has been
> > > ever since 20,000 American warriors invaded the place just after we
> > > got chased out of Somalia.
> > > > After six years of global miscalculation and fumbling, it remains
> > > > Clinton's crown jewel -- especially when compared to the catastrophe
> > > that went down in Somalia and the running sores of Iraq and Bosnia.
> > > >
> > > > Another tough-as-an-old-boot Marine general, Anthony Zinni, our
> > > military
> > > > commander in the Persian Gulf, has sharply criticized Clinton and
> > > his
> > > > national security gang that can't get anything right for their
> > > flawed
> > > > policy to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Clinton's camp holds that
> > > Iraqi
> > > > opposition groups can toss Saddam out. Zinni flatly says Clinton's
> > > plan is
> > > > ill-conceived and could further destabilize the Gulf region.
> > > >
> > > > In 1993, then Marine Commandant Carl Mundy took a shot at the crowd
> > > in the White House who are doing their level best to turn American
> > > warriors into
> > > > 'consideration-for-others' brainwashed Boy Scouts. Mundy said
> > > marriage
> > > > should be banned during a Marine's first hitch. He took a lot of
> > > heat for
> > > > his stand, and his idea was spiked by White House and Pentagon
> > > > social-scientists civilians who think they know more about
> > > soldiering than
> > > > soldiers. He told me later, "Time will prove I'm right." And it has.
> > > The
> > > > Marines are now outflanking the Clinton policy that's caused a 40
> > > percent
> > > > divorce rate among first-term Marines.
> > > >
> > > > When high-ranking Pentagon political appointee Sara Lister called
> > > Marines
> > > > "extremists," the Marine commandant, Gen. Charles Krulak, fired back
> > > with
> > > > a stinging salvo: "Honor, courage and commitment are not extreme."
> > > Lister
> > > > resigned in a firestorm a few days later.
> > > >
> > > > Back during the horror of the Vietnam War, only retired Marine Gen.
> > > David
> > > > Shoup had the guts to tell Congress that Vietnam was a bad war and
> > > we
> > > > shouldn't be there. What a difference it would have made had
> > > Congress had
> > > > the good sense to check out what Shoup, who earned the Congressional
> > > Medal of Honor in the South Pacific during World War II, was saying
> > > instead of
> > > > listening to spinners like Army Gen. Maxwell Taylor and his White
> > > > House-scripted party line.
> > > >
> > > > Now, as Kosovo boils on the front burner, NATO Gen. Wesley Clark,
> > > who's in charge of our troops in ex-Yugoslavia, is clearly the wrong
> > > guy for the
> > > > job. As with William Westmoreland during Vietnam, he's a smooth,
> > > slick and very political Army general with a track record for
> > > political expediency.
> > > > Back in the 1970s, Westy was looking at the Oval office and Clark
> > > now has
> > > > his eye on the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff job. Both
> > > generals,
> > > > masters in the political arena, don't stack up when it comes to
> > > > boots-in-the-mud combat and standing up for the troops and telling
> > > it like
> > > > it is when the politicians do dumb things that put our soldiers and
> > > airmen
> > > > in dangerous places.
> > > >
> > > > Clark, a Clinton pal from their Arkansas and Oxford days, has zoomed
> > > up
> > > > the promotion ladder light years ahead of his peers because of that
> > > > connection. He's also the military architect of the quagmire in
> > > Bosnia, where our serving soldiers are now referring to themselves as
> > > "Prisoners of Peace."
> > > >
> > > > Rather than sitting around and allowing history to repeat itself, we
> > >
> > > > should insist on the appointment of a Marine general like Zinni,
> > > Wilhelm or
> > > > Krulak to run the show in ex-Yugoslavia. You could bet your boots --
> > > like it or not -- they'd tell the pure unvarnished truth instead of
> > > singing a political
> > > > tune like Clark's that may soon turn into a Vietnam-like national
> > > funeral
> > > > dirge.
> > >
> > >
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