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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DOUG H who wrote (203756)	11/18/2001 6:32:22 AM
From: Walkingshadow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

<< ...where critics say political correctness, not warrior qualities, led to professional advancement. >> Well, that's usually the case to one extent or another whenever the executive branch of government controls the military as it does in our country. I would even venture to say that it is the norm in any enforcement agency; policemen don't advance in rank because or their ferocity or effectiveness in dealing with criminals so much, but rather much more so because they have political skills and know how to play the game. I think most understand that a completely unfettered law enforcement agency or military unit that is completely free to do what it thinks is indicated is regarded by the government that it represents as a danger and a threat---and rightfully so. History certainly is consistent with this: anywhere you have a military that is free to pursue its own agenda, you quickly have a military junta..... and usually, guaranteed instability going forward. Maybe the political games are much worse during peacetime, but they are even operative during wartime......Look at some of the events in WWII, e.g. with Patton, then the firing of MacArthur later on. So judging military people by their political correctness is nothing particularly new, though arguably I guess Clinton might have carried that to some extreme, I don't really know. I'm not so sure that the poor morale of the military can be that easily explained in any case. ....but in time of war, the soldier tends to revert to what he was trained to do I think. Maybe I'm naive, but I just cannot for the life of me imagine General Patton while charging wild-eyed across the German countryside even allowing an attorney to be in his presence, much less actually seek his advice. T