Rummie's week of the long knives

by BD Pisani - 2006 apr 21

Old Media and the Left have done their best to crucify Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and by extension his Commander in Chief, whom they loathe. They failed. They incessantly trumpeted disparaging comments and calls for the Secretary's resignation from seven retired, disgruntled flag officers. There has been little traction despite the non-stop media drumbeat of the retirees' disingenuous agenda...

Prior to Vietnam and with minor exception (Douglas MacArthur and George McClellan come to mind), military leaders strove to be apolitical and certainly would never publicly disparage our elected leaders or policies, neither while serving nor when retired. They were true professional military men and knew that such behavior would cause great harm to the United States. Not even the caustic, braggadocios General Patton would do such a thing.

Politics and the military

Sadly, it appears that an apolitical military tradition no longer applies to some of our pampered princes. An extremely small cadre of general officers have taken it upon themselves to do what no honorable military professional should ever do, either on active duty or retired from service -- publicly demean and belittle their superiors and their policies. Any military veteran will tell you that such complaints, justified or not, are expressed within the military family, carried right up through the chain of command.

But today we have a few retired flag officers publicly impugning the integrity of the Secretary of Defense, our nation's policies, as well as the President of the United States, all the while gleefully, ecstatically egged on by a hostile press that has no love for our military, our nation's moral values, or our president. But the only news here is that these few small-minded officers are acting in a disgraceful manner. How few are they, you ask, these petulant kvetchers who publicly trash our leaders in a time of war? Consider the staggering number of retired flag officers who remain honorable and professional:

According to Slate.com, there are approximately 4,700 retired general officers. However, and according to the Marine Corps, there are 82 active duty generals and 400 retired. The Air Force states that it has 13 active duty generals and 86 retired. The Army, with 312 generals, has between 1,100 and 2,200 retired generals, and according to the Army press office, the number is 1,700. The Navy's retired flag officers stand somewhere between 750 and 1,500.

In total, the United States of America therefore has somewhere between 3,100 and 6,300 retired generals and admirals. Regardless of which number you favor, the figure is significant when compared to a handful of whiners. Let's investigate possible causes for publicly airing dirty laundry, shall we?

Thomas Lipscomb points out:

"Retired military and civil servants are receiving ongoing retirement pay from American taxpayers. If they want to give the public the benefit of their experience in consideration of current policies, we are fortunate to get it. But policy differences are one matter and calls for a specific resignation are quite something else."

"As a book publishing executive for many years, I have always welcomed the opportunity to make a buck by publishing 'now it can be told revelations' from those formerly in power. And timing those 'revelations' to promote a forthcoming book is one of the oldest tricks in the trade."

Lipscomb is on to something, because it is no secret that Major General Charles Swannack, Major General John Batiste, General Anthony Zinni, Lieutenant General Anthony Newbold, Major General Paul Eaton, Lieutenant General John M. Riggs (demoted to Major General), and Lieutenant General Paul van Riper all have axes to grind with Secretary Rumsfeld. All have publicly opined that the Secretary should retire. Eaton has admitted that "some" of the generals have been in contact with one another. Van Riper stated that he has been receiving communications from "other flag officers" to join in the condemnation of Secretary Rumsfeld.

Hmm, could there be collusion here?

Bitter armchair busibodies

It is important to remember that these retired, protesting generals were promoted during the Clinton administration and therefore such criticism is automatically suspect. When you consider the fact that Secretary Rumsfeld passed over all of these generals and their colleagues when making his selection for a new Army Chief of Staff, the suspicion grows. It is also important to note that most of the carping generals were schooled and had their noses wiped by General Eric K. Shinseki (more on him later).

Lipscomb takes it one step further:

"But if Generals Gregory Newbold, John Batiste, Zinni and others have believed Rumsfeld's policies have been so dire that they are calling for his resignation, their opinions would have carried far more weight if they had stated them at some personal cost to themselves while on active service by resigning in protest. That action might have also carried some evidence of the courage Americans expect of the highest ranking officers of its uniformed services."

Michael O'Hanlon, a defense expert at the Brookings Institution think tank, said the generals themselves deserve criticism for not making their concerns known during the run-up to the war. Hmm, no whining then, was there?

Now what in the world does General Shinseki have to do with this, you ask? Well. Over the course of the previous and present administrations and Shinseki's tenure as Chief of Staff, there was tremendous tension and abject dislike between him and Secretary Rumsfeld over myriad issues, some of which were:

In April 2002, 14 months before Shinseki was due to retire, The Washington Post reported, quoting "Pentagon officials", that his replacement had already been selected. Today, it is no secret that his onetime underlings, these whining perfumed princes who used to be generals, are angry with the Secretary because he never massaged their egos, and because he shook up the Shinseki "business as usual" structural organization and attitude with which this senior officer class was most comfortable.

No more power, nobody cares

Retired flag officers have a difficult time in civilian life. Suddenly, no one cares one whit about their opinions; There aren't any enlisted flunkies around who snap to when they enter a room; There aren't any junior officers to bully and order about; and Most of their princely perks and trappings of power are long gone.

The temper tantrums of these perfumed princes is harming our nation. Act like the soldiers you once were, shut up, show respect for your superiors, and go play golf.