Ah, this whole thing reads like something out of a Tom Clancy novel ... however the forces would be Russian or Chinese in the book, because not even Clancy would fathom this sort of crap would actually be happening in the US military.
I have a gut feeling the version that has Ham saying screw it, we're going anyway, is probably the correct version. We're talking about one of those fairly rare General Officers who started their careers crawling in the low crawl pit, and pulling guard and KP with the rest of the Privates, for what, four years I think? Those guys are usually the ones who would be prone to say 'screw it' and do what they thought needed doing, because politics isn't the first thought to enter their mind when confronted with a 'situation'.
I hate to think the General would have his career ended over such an action, but with this crew of REMF we have at the top now, it probably does make perfect sense to relieve him and send him his walking papers via certified mail.
For several reasons, I am sort of glad I am through with that phase of my life. Not because of the present, on-going engagement in Afghanistan, but because I would most likely be in trouble all the time for failing to be politically correct.
On the other hand, of course there is that part of me that would just love to be having breakfast tomorrow morning in some mess hall tent somewhere in some muslim country, chuckling, because I was sitting there and eating ham or bacon. :-)
We will all hope for the best possible outcome for Ham, even though we know it probably won't end up that way. |
