Generals, Admirals, Secretaries, and other Political Hacks

Note: I wrote the following post back in September 2021, but for some reason never posted it. This occasionally happens, usually because more pressing demands cause me to move on to something else and forget about other less important things, like blog posts. Anyway, while doing some PC housekeeping this morning, I stumbled on this forgotten unposted post. After reading it, though, I decided to post it. I  think it’s important to recall the Biden administration’s incompetent approach to national security typified by its hapless withdrawal from Afghanistan. The tragic event addressed below is simply one among many in which political considerations led to lies, attempted cover-ups, and finally to scapegoating and a refusal to accept responsibility. Given the administration’s current confusing and contradictory messaging regarding our support for a beleaguered and courageous Ukraine, it would seem those in charge have learned nothing from their past mistakes.

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Today America had the opportunity to witness a beautiful example of the politicization of our military. I actually feel a little bit sorry — certainly not a lot — for General McKenzie, USMC, the Commander of Central Command. It would seem the General drew the short straw to be the media flak-catcher for a tragic error that led to the death of seven children and three adults, all innocents, in Kabul by an “errant” drone strike on August 29. Of course, the press conference should have included the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the joint Chiefs, the ones who, along with the White House, waxed eloquently about how “righteous” the attack actually was. These comments were made even after there was some serious concern that perhaps a tragic mistake had been made. The whole truth would probably have remained forever trapped in that special classified file of blunders if someone hadn’t tipped off the New York Times. The paper ran with the story and forced the brass to admit the truth. But the top dogs had been subject to enough bad press lately, so let’s toss CENTCOM to the ravenous puppy dogs of the mainstream media.

In my not-so-humble opinion, were General McKenzie a man of honor he would have resigned long ago rather than go along with President Biden’s idiotic plan-less withdrawal from Afghanistan. It’s not like the results couldn’t have been predicted. They were indeed eminently predictable. Once the president set a definite departure date as his primary goal, those of us who haven’t yet eased into senility knew it would lead to disaster. But like most others at the highest levels in our modern military, McKenzie likely thinks he’s indispensable and his absence would really be missed. This, of course, is patently absurd. If I learned one thing during my years as a naval officer, it’s that I could always be replaced. Many equally or more competent people were always waiting in the wings ready to take over and correct my mistakes. Command, when rightly understood, is always a humbling experience.

The primary target of the drone attack was a man who worked for an aid organization and was trying to help others by taking water to their homes. This was apparently misinterpreted as a delivery of explosives. The error was made by our illustrious over-the-horizon warriors who sit in their comfortable chairs, staring at their computer screens, making life and death decisions with a joystick — okay, it’s life and death for others; in this instance a collection of nameless, faceless Afghanis. The ramifications of these fatal decisions? Other than the death of innocents, nothing else will happen. No one will even know who actually screwed up. As General McKenzie said today, the report of the investigation will be highly classified so don’t expect anything useful. And, of course, there will be no disciplinary action because, well, too many people signed off on the attack, too many people up the entire chain of command. And, anyway, we just had to do something big in Kabul, since so many people were complaining that we could no nothing. As it turned out, we could do something, something horribly evil. And, yes, it was evil because it was likely done under political pressure to create a success in Afghanistan’s capital city. Oh, yes, It will also demonstrate the effectiveness of our over-the-horizon capabilities that will obviate the need for all those pesky troops on the ground.

The release of the admission was well-orchestrated and offered during a Friday afternoon press conference. That’s about the only clever thing the administration did. Personally, I am sickened by the senior officers in our military. How many have resigned in protest during the past twenty years? I can’t think of a single one. Every one of these political hacks, promoted during the past decade, are not the kind of warriors we want in these critical positions. Sadly, I don’t see any change in the offing.

Generals, Admirals, Secretary’s and other Hacks

Today America had the opportunity to witness a beautiful example of the politicization of our military. I actually feel a little bit sorry — certainly not a lot — for General McKenzie, USMC, the Commander of Central Command. It would seem the General drew the short straw to be the media flak-catcher for a tragic error that led to the death of seven children and three adults, all innocents, in Kabul by an errant drone strike on August 29. Of course, the press conference should have included the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the ones who, along with the White House, waxed eloquently about how “righteous” the attack actually was. These comments were made even after there was some serious concern that perhaps a tragic mistake had been made. The whole truth would probably have remained forever trapped in that special classified file of blunders, if someone hadn’t tipped off the New York Times. The paper ran with the story and forced the brass to admit the truth. But the top dogs had been subject to enough bad press lately, so let’s toss CENTCOM to the ravenous puppy dogs of the mainstream media.

In my not-so-humble opinion, were General McKenzie a man of honor he would have resigned long ago rather than go along with President Biden’s idiotic plan-less withdrawal from Afghanistan. It’s not like the results couldn’t have been predicted. They were indeed eminently predictable. Once the president set a definite departure date as his primary goal, those of us who haven’t yet eased into senility knew it would lead to disaster. But like all the others at the highest levels in our modern military, McKenzie actually thinks he’s indispensable and his absence would really be missed. This, of course, is patently absurd. 

The key adult killed in the drone attack was a worker for an aid organization trying to help others by taking water to their homes. This was apparently misinterpreted as a delivery of explosives. The error was made by our illustrious over-the-horizon warriors who sit in their comfortable chairs, staring at their computer screens, making life and death decisions with a joystick — okay, it’s life and death for others, probably just a bunch of Afghans who likely supported terrorists anyway. The ramifications of these fatal decisions? Other than the death of innocents, nothing else will happen. No one will even know who actually screwed up. As General McKenzie said today, the report of the investigation will be highly classified so don’t expect anything useful. And, of course, there will be no disciplinary action because, well, too many people signed off on the attack, too many people up the entire chain of command. And, anyway, we just had to do something big in Kabul, since so many people were complaining that we could no nothing. As it turned out, we could do something, something horribly evil. And, yes, it was evil because it’s likely it was done under political pressure to create a success in Afghanistan’s capital city. And, yes, how wonderful are our over-the-horizon capabilities.I can hardly wait for what they give us in the future. The real problem, one we still don’t seem to understand, is that Islamist terrorism is not something that will be defeated by killing leaders with drone strikes. Jihadism Is much stronger than any individual and must be fought on the ground.

The release of the admission was well-orchestrated to be offered during a Friday afternoon press conference. That’s about the only clever thing they have done. Personally, I am sickened by the senior officers in our military. How many have resigned in protest during the past twenty years? I can’t think of a single one. Every one of these political hacks, promoted during the past decade, are not the kind of warriors we want in these critical positions. Sadly, I don’t see any change in the offing.

Beyond Incompetence

There is so much wrong with the implementation of President Biden’s "plan" for the exit of our military forces from Afghanistan that one suspects it was a plan devoid of any planning. His so-called plan ignored or contradicted the very basics of conducting military operations and diplomacy. Indeed it is hard to believe the leadership of our defense and state departments could sign on to such an utterly incompetent plan.The only other possibility is one no American wants to believe: that the results we have all witnessed were actually desired. In other words, all was done with intent not through incompetence. Sadly I’ve come to believe this might well be true.

It’s highly unlikely the president actually crafted this plan. First of all he’s not smart enough to put together even such a disastrous strategy. Perhaps his remarkably artistic son, Hunter, devised the plan. After all, Hunter and the Biden family have reaped the benefits of his extensive global connections. And did his dad not call him “the smartest man I know?” The truth is, a growing number of Americans are asking whether Joe Biden, unlike his son, is simply stupid or well on his way to complete senility. Then again maybe he actually is the supreme planner, and his handlers have been unable to take control. But when we see the fruits of the president’s actions, from a geopolitical perspective it would seem he’s focused on aiding our enemies, specifically Communist China with whom, coincidentally, many of his most senior advisors also have long-standing personal and financial relationships. It’s all a mess.

To make matters worse, the rest of the president’s team are mostly hacks, a collection of fawning toadies who don’t have the courage to tell him his ideas are sheer idiocy. If the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs actually advised the president to maintain a significant troop presence or disaster would follow, and if he rejected their counsel, they should have resigned immediately. But like far too many senior officers today, they are mere politicians who care far more for their own careers than they do for their country. I know, harsh words. But in all those years I spent as an officer in the U. S. Navy, I got to know many flag officers. Most were true warriors, men of honor, unlike today’s batch of woke “leaders” who deserve no respect.

There are just so many things wrong with all that’s happened…

Was our intelligence so bad that we not only underestimated the strength and tactical capabilities of the Taliban but also overestimated that of the Afghan government forces? Did it completely overlook the effect of our military’s precipitous departure on the morale of Afghan troops? Was the anticipated timeline of the subsequent chaos completely wrong? Or was our intelligence solid but simply ignored by the Commander in Chief? I suspect a sad combination of all.

Why on earth did we not prioritize the extraction of American citizens, Afghan special visa people, and their families? There appears to have been no plan to handle this rather large task prior to pulling our troops out of the country. And now the entire process is bogged down by the red tape of State Department bureaucracy and the scarcity of competent personnel to process the folks trying to leave. Yesterday both the Department of Defense and the State Department admitted they “had no idea” how many American citizens are in Afghanistan trying to get out. In other words, they did absolutely no planning once the decision was made to leave the country. 

The British and French are sending their special ops folks into Kabul to extract their citizens, but yesterday our Secretary of Defense stated we are not able to do this same. Are we unable, or have our forces been prohibited by their incompetent, cowardly senior commanders and commander in chief from doing so?  I can guarantee that our special ops troops would be happy to accept this mission. It’s what they do. They simply need the complete support of a Commander in Chief who would be willing to explain the consequences of interference to the Taliban.  

We’ve also been told that F18s from the USS Ronald Reagan have been overflying Kabul. I suppose the big question is, why? General Taylor of the JCS stated they are there to provide air support for the ground commander. How can they do so in an urban environment in which the Taliban are completely enmeshed in the civilian population? Do we think the Taliban fighters are afraid of these aircraft? It would seem the F-18s are flying simply because we have them and we might as well show everyone we can get them to Kabul. ”…a prudent and responsible thing to do,” according to Admiral Kirby. They might have been useful if we had not abandoned the airbase at Bagram; but since our only presence now is within the small perimeter at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai Airport, it would seem their purpose is largely psychological.

And then there’s the billions of dollars worth of U.S. military equipment now in the blood-soaked hands of terrorists. Recent reports indicate they now possess over 40 aircraft, including Black Hawk attack helicopters, upwards of 2,000 armored vehicles, high-tech drones, night-vision equipment, over a half-million infantry weapons, and so much more. Tomorrow’s Al Qaeda will be one of the best equipped and armed pack of terrorists we’ve ever had to face, thanks to President Biden’s feckless plan.

I could go on…the shameful way the President treats American citizens, as well as our allied partners; the constant lies about Taliban brutality toward those trying to leave; the President’s avoidance of the media and the American people as he hides out at Camp David and in Delaware…and so much more, but It just makes me ill to relate it. 

Of course, if the pressure within his own party forces him to leave office we’ll be left with Kamala who rushed off to Saigon, probably watching videos of our shameful departure in 1975. So many ironies, but so very, very sad.