Friday, September 14, 2007
9-14 is a what kind of military exercise?
Hell, who knows. The military, these days, is getting the kind of hype that hasn't been seen since the German press applauded the German army for invading Poland—or since the Russian press talked about the "heroic" rescue of Hungary from the revisionists.
"Support the troops," according to many people, is to simply applaud them for whatever it is they do, including their generals, and to imply that anyone who doesn't is an ally of The Satanic Enemy. It's like if you said anything against the army's behavior at, say, Wounded Knee or Sand Creek you were an "Injun lover," and unAmerican.
Well, yes, I am an "Injun lover," and I'm not pro-American the way Rush Limburger is, but. But But but. Blind approval for an army ends up with governments like Pinochet's Chile, Franco's Spain, or Stalin's Soviet Union. It's really foolish and naive. The truth is, armies all the time do stupid things and generals constantly do stupid things. Petraeus is simply another political opportunists with great ambitions for himself. Yeah, like Franco or Pinochet or MacArthur. Being an officer in the military is about power; the higher one ascends, the more power there is. And power is one of the ultimate drugs, like money: you never have enough, once your addicted.
"Support the troops," according to many people, is to simply applaud them for whatever it is they do, including their generals, and to imply that anyone who doesn't is an ally of The Satanic Enemy. It's like if you said anything against the army's behavior at, say, Wounded Knee or Sand Creek you were an "Injun lover," and unAmerican.
Well, yes, I am an "Injun lover," and I'm not pro-American the way Rush Limburger is, but. But But but. Blind approval for an army ends up with governments like Pinochet's Chile, Franco's Spain, or Stalin's Soviet Union. It's really foolish and naive. The truth is, armies all the time do stupid things and generals constantly do stupid things. Petraeus is simply another political opportunists with great ambitions for himself. Yeah, like Franco or Pinochet or MacArthur. Being an officer in the military is about power; the higher one ascends, the more power there is. And power is one of the ultimate drugs, like money: you never have enough, once your addicted.
