Wednesday, December 2, 2009

So why did Obama choose more war?

Well crap...I don't know. But some I argue with daily have asked me what I though about military establishment influence on President Obama...and if that played a role in his decision last night. I can't say for sure obviously...but I believe the influence is there and very pervasive.

Today's DoD is far more independent from the Executive Branch than in previous decades. They are still subordinate obviously by means of chain of command, national security strategy and purse strings......but the animal has grown larger than it's cage.

There are incestuous relationships at play that dwarf Eisenhower's 'military-industrial complex' speech. Between military analysts funneling propaganda through mainstream media outlets to executive positions in defense corporations for retiring flag officers to my recent discovery of the 'Senior Mentor Program' [DoD hiring former flag officers working at defense corporations to mentor current combatant commanders]......and the think tanks who are hired to provide analysis and background to the DoD...to partisan think tanks actually lecturing soldiers [Michael Rubin of AEI speaking to troops at Ft's Riley and Carson]....gone are the days of quiet subordination to the CinC....I believe.

That Petraeus [and now possibly McChrystal] attaining such a fiefdom with possible political aspirations only exacerbates the problem [not that that is a new phenomenon].

The bottom line is that aside from the axiom of no commander ever not asking for more, or tendering the assessment that withdrawal is required....Obama's commanders and senior military advisers will always push forwards rather than back. They will always look for the win rather than the reality. It's rather hardwired into most senior military leaders. Obama would have to truly buck the paradigm and show independent leadership to reverse the course we're on. I had held out some small hope that he might....and I was wrong.

5 comments:

  1. To answer your question. imo; Because he was told to.

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  2. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KL03Df05.html

    please check out the other two top articles. Especially the one by Pepe Escobar. He is one of my favorites.

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  3. Good article...and some of the points I have been bringing up for awhile now. Given that CNAS is considered the 'shadow pentagon'.....you may be quite close in your assessment of Obama being 'steered'.

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  4. I think the military has always managed to "persuade" presidents to their way of thinking. While this was no exception I keep remembering that the president never said he was going to pull out of Afghanistan. He said during the campaign that it was important to get OBL and that it was important to protect our security interests there. As a result, although disappointed, I wasn't surprised at his decision. Thanks for stopping by my place and thanks for you kind words regarding my dog guys.

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  5. Obama has the Clintons silenced. I don't think there are any generals that will intimidate him. I don't think we have any generals at this time capable of anything but asking for more.

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