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| Home Front: Politix | |
| Champ's war on the American generals | |
| 2013-03-02 | |
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| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #11 Example: "We've made some outstanding progress in Afghanistan and we all should be proud of that. However, lately there have been some events which raise concern regarding the apparent deceleration in tempo. Perhaps it's time to rethink our basic strategy in the theater and consider whether the current command (however experienced) has the optimal players to sustain the effort and meet ongoing objectives." |
| Posted by: KBK 2013-03-02 16:43 |
| #10 The internal process of performance review, Fitness {FITREPS} and Officer Evaluation Reports [OER} generally tends to weed out independent thinkers and stand-up men long before they achieve Flag rank. Final elevation to 07 [General Officer] is a rather exclusive, back-channel political process as opposed to one of formal selection board review based upon an individual's career accomplishments and merit. The propensity to select officer who look quite like yourself is ever present and widely accepted. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-03-02 14:45 |
| #9 Is it just me, or does there seem to be a definite lack of substantive "resigning/retiring in protest" among the career Flag Officers*? It seems more like musical chairs with the White House mafia pulling the setting out from under these guys one by one. *When officers make 07 grade and above, they actually do get a flag embroidered with their rank. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-03-02 14:26 |
| #8 Yeah/ When an old girlfriend tells you she's gonna be your biographer, you know you're in trouble. |
| Posted by: badanov 2013-03-02 08:50 |
| #7 After reading Chuck's comment, I went back and gave the article a re-read. Granted, Petreaus "did it to himself" and no doubt he [Petreaus] would be the first to admit it. However, as one who is always probing the sky for black helicopters, in the innermost recesses of my brain housing group I will always wonder if she was a plant. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-03-02 06:59 |
| #6 Been ages since Rantburg had a quality Concern Troll. Difficult to pull off, but very effective if done correctly. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2013-03-02 05:39 |
| #5 Thanks, that explains it. My density once again. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-03-02 04:22 |
| #4 "Also, concern trolling (!)." Just what are you saying? Not all my attempts at humour succeed, it seems. Sorry. That was the first time I saw the term, and in a serious, old-style magazine, too. It struck me the way some of the things I've learnt here strike the trailing daughters when I say them aloud, not thinking that perhaps I'm a tad mature for such vocabulary. As for the Strong opinions a[re] expressed, it struck me that the opinions stated in the piece were considerably more strongly felt than usual. Not a judgement, merely an observation. Had I thought it inappropriate, or merely not right for Rantburg, I shouldn't have published it. Again, my apologies for the confusion. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2013-03-02 03:07 |
| #3 "Strong opinions a expressed." Well yes, it's an opinion piece at frontpagemag.com. "Also, concern trolling (!)." Just what are you saying? Overall I found the article very interesting. However, I don't agree with the statement: "But a year later, Petraeus met the same fate as McKiernan and McChrystal after alienating the CIA top brass which enmeshed him in a scandal." Petraeus did that to himself and he should have known better. The "top brass" may have helped bring his zipper control problem to light, but Petraeus has only himself to blame. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2013-03-02 02:31 |
| #2 Girls just want to have fun! If only the bacterial research of the 60's would have went better! |
| Posted by: Snise Cruter2274 2013-03-02 01:02 |
| #1 Mods, please explain the blue highlighted comment below the title. I'm confused as to the meaning or intent. Thanks :-) |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-03-02 00:42 |