First, we’re getting ready to draw down the surge. So, before all of you rant and rave about what a success it is, wait to see what happens once it goes away (because we can’t sustain it). Second, try and count to ten before you start condemning every veteran that speaks out as out of touch or “leftist” or talking out of his lane. Yes, I know some of those twelve captains personally. I guess that’s why I have such a visceral reaction against the people that are so quick to dismiss their credibility. Jason Blindauer, the author of the article, is one of the finest officers I’ve ever met. A bit excentric, yes, but one of the best. I’d take him next to me in a firefight over just about everyone I’ve ever met in the Army (and, though no one can verify this, that’s saying something). In all my time in Iraq, in all the places I’ve been, I haven’t seen anything that leads me to disagree with Jason. He’s not speaking out against the soldiers or the fact that America faces a very real threat from Islamic Fundamentalism. On the contrary, he’s speaking out against an administration that has severely bungled this war effort and (to many of us on the ground) has us bogged down in a conflict that has no endstate (due to the corruption and cultural bankruptcy of the Iraqi people). The world is not black and white. I can, in fact, severely criticize, and yet still respect the authority of, my president. I guess when I see the “best and brightest” of America blown limb from limb to the highest rooftop I start to reexamine things. It’s easy to sit back in your office or living room and say give things more time, but it’s a little different when you see the price the .001% is paying in blood, sweat, and tears.

Trust me, I’m no fan of the left. But the more I hear you guys talk, I’m no fan of the right.

You really ought to have the guts to actually say the word you know.
”

Yes they are lying.

There. Happy now?

Heh. When I was a captain, I had no recognition of that, either. That was still an age where I was confident that I knew everything.

No one wants to hear from Soldiers who support the war or work with the Iraqis so that they may become the first professional armed force the M.E. has ever had outside of Israel. No one wants to hear that, even though mistakes were made, we are doing superhuman efforts to rebuild nations which cannot remember when they were not corrupt. No one cares about that.

Curt, I think I mentioned that in an email to you.

When these people were in, I was a senior captain in Armored Cavalry. I made major last year and am far more deployable now than as an O-3. I also saw many of their branches on AKO (those I could find) and only a few were line troops and most may have been O-2s and not captains at the time. Fewer still have been in long enough to go through the advanced courses and company command.

And there is NO job security for FGs or GOs and yes, I have been offered many jobs on the outside but was born an Army Brat and feel at home in the Army. And YES, I believe FULLY in what I do and our cause and I and others like me have more honor and integrity than the entire “anti-war” movement combined.

As for the USA being polarized, you are 100% correct and our enemies from Islamics to Chavez see it and relish it.

People who write such sweeping generalizations are not to be taken seriously. You should have quit before the “ChrisG.”

I should not have personally attacked you. I let my emmotions control my behavior.

I pray that you are one of the few remaining Field Grades that chose to stay in to make a positive difference.

I think we need to keep in mind what is going on here:

The U.S. is becoming extremely polarized. I understand that people and organizations have agendas, however; we must distance ourselves from the emotion of the debate and look at the realities. Left versus Right attitudes will only hurt us in the long run.

If we constantly are looking to pick a fight with “the other side” then all we create is in-fighting which weakens us. (you would think we could learn that by watching the Sunni/Shia/Kurd battle happening right in front of our eyes). We are becoming a nation of two tribes (Right & Left) instead of being Americans first!

So again, I apologize for feeding into the emotion in my first post. Lets find some common ground, use it as an attack position, not a battle ground and do things together for the greater good of the U.S.

I pray that is what the “12 former United States Captains” were trying to do with their OpEd.

A key difference is they actually get to IMPLEMENT those orders. They get to see where the rubber meets the road, while most of their bosses are comfortably “supervising” from a Tac-Sat back in the TOC.

In full disclosure, I personally know some of the Captains who wrote this Op-Ed. (keep in mind this is an Opinion Piece). And yes, the CPTs did wait to publish their opinions until they legally could. Does that mean their observations are not real? Not at all.

ChrisG, you can attempt to discredit these former officers, but I know for a fact that some of these officers left the Army because of REMFs like you.

The Army has turned into a welfare state. The majority of good officers get out because they see where the Army is headed, and the remaining officers are still in after O3 because they have job security… NOT because they believe in the cause. NOT because they know what honor and integrity are. ONLY because they couldn’t survive in the outside job market without an unhealthy dose of nepotism.

The view of a Captain is microscopic when it comes to the totality of what’s going on over in Iraq. No doubt their thoughts are genuine and heartfelt. But their view is exceedingly narrow and they seem to show no recognition of that. They are, in effect, extrapolating their view of the situation to the entirety of Iraq and calling it THE interpretation of record. Sorry, life doesn’t work that way.

Not on my best day wearing a uniform did I ever think I had the whole picture and that my view was the only possible correct interpretation. Hubris is a cruel mistress, no?

And yes, this seems to be a more common affliction amongst IRR soldiers than among active reserve or active soldiers.

Sorry, I gotta call ‘em like I see ‘em.

While some of their complaints are inaccurate or dated, the general points are valid: we all know (and have known for years) that Iranian influence, endemic Iraqi corruption, Shi’ite militias, and mobile terrorists are problems. It is also true that the previous strategy of standing up the Iraqi security forces was only partially successful during its brief 18 months of implementation.

The question, though, is why these 12 have now decided that these problems are insurmountable. I suspect that if we were able to delve into the reasoning behind this editorial, we’d find that they could be rescued from their bleak outlooks. If, for instance, Iranian influence could be greatly reduced, and we continued to have success on the security front, I doubt that they would advocate retreat so readily.

The MSM would go into a paroxysm of hate and rage that would tear the USA apart.

That’s going to happen anyway during the 2008 election, but President George W. Bush is buying all the time he can.

I understand your frustration. Please take consolation that your own blogging, political and otherwise, is doing more good with less harm than Bush can accomplish.

A Robert Heinlein like “service guarantees citizenship” idea may come again and it does have a certain appeal, however it will take a dramatic change in Western culture for it to happen. A draft now would cause the left and libertarian right to riot and could cause a real civil war whuch our enemies would love to no end like vultures circling.

For now, let the left cry “police state” while they openly support the islamofascists and attempt to censor political opponents while slandering Soldiers. Maybe America will wake up and the left will be held accountable for their actions, though probably not. It is not like the left has EVER been held accountable before.

I have NO DOUBT what the left’s motivation is and I will call the left liars. But I only know what I have found out about these people through AKO. Their status as mostly IRR makes me wonder.