Quote:
Originally Posted by MRM
There is nothing unpatriotic about pointing out mistakes. Admitting mistakes is what makes it possible for our policies to evolve and improve to meet real world circumstances. In WWII the Truman Commission made its name, and contributed imesurably to the war effort by holding hearings and investigating fraud waste and abuse - all of which were embarassing to the powers that were, but which were sapping the war effort.
I see nothing different here. It is no secret that the Bush administration has a hard time admitting mistakes, and equates probing questions with disloyalty. The failure to admit mistakes and conduct a self-examination to correct deficiencies had bogged down all of the Administration's policies, and our war effort in particular. Our Iraq war effort would be infinitely better off had someone asked the hard questions before we went in, so that we had a good invasion and occupation strategy, and then continued to ask hard questions when it became clear that the current strategy wasn't working. We're four years behind where we should have been because the administration wouldn't admit they made a mistake by not going in with more troops, disbanding the Iraqi army with no place for them to go, by not securing the former arms caches, etc., etc., etc.
One reason the south had so much better leadership than the North in the Civil War was that Northern generals had a policital base that gave them their position. They could prove to be inept military comanders, but they could keep their job because they had political connections. Lincoln could do only so much with the army he had. The south had only one requirement for its generals: fighting ability. Leaders who won battles were promoted, those that didn't weren't.
We've gotten ourselves into a similar situation here. Anyone who questions the current administration's tactics or strategy has their patriotosm called into question, even when they support the president's goals and objectives. Only those who loyally parot the administration line get promoted, and those are the people who can explain convincingly seven ways to Sunday why the war is going at least as well as was planned and better than we could expect. Bush had to have the surge shoved down his throat after three years of denial when it became so self-evident that his limited war in Iraq was failing that he could pretend no longer.
I see nothing wrong with McClellan's book. We can all learn from it and from the lessons learned we will have a stronger country.
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Excellent post! Between Mclellan, Colin Powell, Paul O'Neill, Richard Clarke, et al, the pattern of our current "leadership" and their net results speak for themselves. All were "marginalized" imo for "questioning" the POTUS (or his policies) much like anyone here on PPOT is immediately labeled a LIB, Dem, etc. Some of you guys are so blinded by your political affiliation that it taints your perspective imo. I'm a Republican, but hate to admit it anymore, and the Dems are no better
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