American Military Revolt?

American Military Revolt?

Last night I attended a speech delivered by Ann Wright, Colonel, U.S. Army, Retired.
Col. Wright has a long history of service to her country including full careers in both the military and in the diplomatic service. Now she is speaking out in favor of impeaching both W and dick. She was adamant in insisting that we are on the cusp of impeachment and that every concerned citizen should make it a point to go to their representatives’ offices while they are home on vacation from Washington.

I plan to do that, although I have very little faith in any of our Senators and Congressmen as bearers of my message to the hill. I just keep telling myself that whether or not they will act on my opinions, they are my representatives and should at least have to listen to me and those who think like me. For that reason, I urge you to do the same. Go see them. It will be discouraging, but the DemoRats definitely need to hear that their party line is unacceptable to the people and the Repulsicans need to hear how disgusted we are with their support of BushCo – not to mention the party line rigidity that both parties continue to foment.

The issues Col. Wright suggests emphasizing are: the manipulation of intelligence BushCo used to mislead us into war; the loss of honor due to official advocation of torture as a questioning device and suspension of habeas corpus, and; surveillance without court review as passed by the Congress just last week. She also stressed the need to press for removal of our troops from Iraq, saying that far from disastrous for Iraq, our retreat would be beneficial because it would defuse the concept of occupation and allow Iraq’s government to form alliances with forces of their choice from their own region.

The thing that hit me the hardest was her description of the morale of our military. She pointed out that recruitment is in the toilet. Recruiters are offering $20,000 signing bonuses to new recruits and up to $50,000 for re-ups and still falling short of recruitment goals. Nearly 100% of our troops on the ground in Iraq, she said, are demoralized and dissatisfied with BushCo’s policies. For me that lent credence to the article below, which I have been sitting on for a while wondering how much credibility could be assigned to it. There are plenty of references in it to background sources. I hope it is true, but you can judge for yourself:

IRAQ -- ACTIVE DUTY GENERALS WILL "REVOLT" AGAINST BUSH IF HE MAINTAINS ESCALATION INTO 2008: Appearing on NBC's Chris Matthews Show, Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial page editor Cynthia Tucker reveals that sources within the military are warning of "a revolt from active-duty generals if September rolls around and the president is sticking with the surge into '08.'" Noting that retired generals such as Gen. John Baptiste have already begun voicing their discontent with the President's strategy in Iraq, Tucker added that the generals "don't want to fall by the wayside like the generals in Vietnam did, kept pushing a war that they knew was lost." When President Bush vetoed the Iraq timeline legislation earlier this month, he claimed that "the measure would 'impose impossible conditions on our commanders in combat' by forcing them to 'take fighting directions from politicians 6,000 miles away in Washington, DC." But despite past claims that "the right force level" will be determined by "the sober judgment of our military leaders," the Bush administration has a proven track record of disregarding the advice of military leaders. As recently as last December, when the White House was first pushing its escalation plan, the administration explicitly ignored "the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." If Tucker's sources are correct, it appears the commanders on the ground in Iraq are getting tired of "taking fighting directions" from the politician "6,000 miles away" in the White House. And they might not stay quiet for long.

Please – go see your Senators and Congressmen sometime in the next two weeks.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. -- M. K. Gandhi

Individually we have little voice. Collectively we cannot be ignored.
But in silence we surrender our power. Yours in Peace -- BR