I don’t think I can convey the disgust I feel for the policy-makers at this point in time. In a perfect world, the Field officers would lead the fighting troops, and the bureaucrats should stick to whatever the heck they do to earn their keep.

Sues pointed out this article on Angry American Designs:

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The following is an article from military.com regarding the asinine charges being brought against Lt Col. Alan West in Iraq. We were thinking about adding this to the political humor section, but thought better of it. John Weisman is the co-author of “Red Cell w/ Richard Marcinko.

John Weisman:Memo to Army Chief of Staff Pete Schoomaker
November 3, 2003

Dear General:

Now let’s see if I get this straight. An officer whose Tikrit-based troops have come under attack from Saddam loyalists becomes aware that an Iraqi detainee has information about a planned ambush of his Soldiers, but the prisoner isn’t being cooperative.

The officer then goes to interrogate the detainee — an Iraqi police officer, by the way — and in the course of questioning, fires his weapon as a way of making the point that he’s serious about obtaining straight answers.

The detainee then tells the truth. The ambush is averted, and Soldiers’ lives are saved.

The officer is then:
A: given a commendation.
B: promoted to full colonel for showing initiative under pressure and loyalty to his troops.
C: told to resign his commission immediately or face a court martial.

The correct answer, I’m sorry to have to report, is “C.”

Lt. Col. Alan B. West, who aggressively interrogated an Iraqi detainee so that he could prevent an ambush and save his Soldiers lives, is being charged with aggravated assault by his unit’s JAG officer.

According to published reports, Lt. Col West allowed two of his Soldiers to “physically agress” the prisoner (an act for which they were later fined), and then West brandished his pistol and fired two shots to scare the man into talking.
For this, the Judge Advocate General’s office wants to end his 19-year career and possibly send him to prison for eight years. Meanwhile, idiot officers who get their men killed are being given medals and promotions, and generals who have never come under fire are putting themselves in for Silver Stars.

General Schoomaker, this is madness — and you have to put a full stop to it right now.

Because this is what happens when lawyers, not shooters, run the military.
This is what happens in the politically correct world in which a secretary of the army (Togo West) hires a consultant who actually drafts a report stating that the Army needs to become less aggressive and more in touch with its feminine side. WHAT????

This is what happens when the Army culture replaces risk-taking and initiative with hundreds of pages of rules and regulations that hamper war-fighting, degrade unit integrity, and place inane limits on how Soldiers can or cannot conduct themselves in battle.

This is what happens when managers and systems analysts replace Warriors in the command structure.

This is what happens when somewhere along the chain of command, the idea that war is about killing people and breaking things gets completely lost. This is what happens when the Army forgets the words of General George S. Patton, Jr.: “We must be eager to kill, to inflict on the enemy — the hated enemy — wounds, death, and destruction.”

Now, I’m not in favor of hooking prisoners up to field telephones — although it has certainly happened in the past. Nor am I in favor of taking the Argentine approach to interrogation, i.e., tossing one prisoner out of a chopper 10,000 feet above the South Atlantic and then posing the question to the second prisoner in the chopper.
Moreover, Lt. Col West’s actions came nowhere close to anything that can be called torture. Aggressive? Obviously. Outside the box? Absolutely. But aren’t those qualities precisely the qualities we want in our officers?

Because if I were a Soldier serving under West’s command, I’d say HOOAH, Colonel, and follow him to hell. Why? Because Lt. Col. West demonstrated something that far too few of today’s officers are willing to demonstrate to their men and women: loyalty DOWN the chain of command.

Lt. Col. West put his Soldiers’ lives above his own career. That sort of behavior deserves to be praised and rewarded, not given eight years and a dishonorable discharge. HOOAH Col. West

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OK, this is PC run amok. We are fighting a WAR for crying out loud. That used to mean “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” That used to mean “They are to the north of us, they are to south of us, they are to the east and the west of us. They can’t get away this time.” It used to mean the United States would go in, kick butt, take names, and then compassionately turn around and rebuild the country we decimated. For reference, see what we did in Japan and Germany after WWII. We didn’t hold their prisoners after the hostilities were over, we released them and shipped them back to their country.

Getting, and using, information from the enemy is an intelligent maneuver, one that has been used since warfare began, back when Og figured out that Ug was going to be hunting in the next valley over and Og waited for him. Using the intelligence gathered to keep your own troops from harm should be commended, not punished!

I’ll tell you what is happening here – since the Liberal press and Democrats can’t get us to cut and run formally, they are tearing at the American Fighting Man from within – demoralizing his attempts at leadership, undercutting the very thing they are supposed to do, so that no officer will ever again attempt to use information gathered from an enemy source to keep his own men safe, or to inflict more casualties on the enemy than the enemy can inflict on him.

Col. West did not fire the weapon AT the prisoner, he fired it NEAR the prisoner. Would the Liberals have preferred he use a dull knife to rip the prisoner’s head off while screaming “Glory to God?” The Liberals seem to love it when the terrorists do that to one of our guys, and yet you don’t hear the Libs calling for the terrorists to be brought up on charges, do you?

All you “cut and run” supporters – I hereby invite you to do just that. Cut your ties to this country, renounce your citizenship, and go live somewhere else. I hear France has lots of places for people like you, especially in the white flag factories. How about Switzerland? “Neutral” just means you don’t stand for anything, and can’t make up your mind – just like the Liberal “progressive thinkers” in this country.

I am sick and tired of hearing all about “political correctness” and “respecting other’s heritage” and all that namby-pamby crap. You live in the United States, assimilate to this country’s heritage – one of freedom bought by the shed blood of our forefathers, defended by the blood of our grandfathers, still defended to this day by our fathers, brothers, and ourselves. One that is fast disappearing under the shadow of “don’t offend anyone.” No matter what action you take, you are going to offend – so offend the ones who would take away your country and your freedoms, one at a time, and from inside the system.

Stand up, dammit! Support not only your troops, but those who lead them! Get off your butts and demand that your representatives start doing their job – representing the United States citizens, and start concerning themselves about this country before it is taken away from us!

Be a sheepdog, and chase the wolf away!