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The Crisis in Civil-Military Relations That Wasn't
When the president fired Gen. Stan McChrystal last year, a chorus of pundits rushed to proclaim the United States faced a crisis in civil-military relations. I do not want to argue that civil-military relations are entirely healthy, because I do not believe they are*, but it seems clear in retrospect that L'Affair Rolling Stan was not as symptomatic of a crisis as we were initially led to believe. As Hew Strachan correctly noted, "This was a cock-up, not a conspiracy. [McChrystal's] dignified response, and his refusal to try to justify or explain away the remarks attributed to him, confirmed his disciplined acceptance of his own constitutional position."**
I think today's news*** only confirms what Strachan argued, though the next time Gen. Petraeus disagrees with someone in the White House about the pace of Afghanistan troop withdrawals, you can count on pundits to reliably begin screaming anew about a crisis in civil-military relations.
*Richard Kohn offers the most exhaustive list of reasons to be worried about civil-military relations in this 2008 essay. As with this other essay by Kohn, I do not endorse everything he argues but nonetheless found it enlightening and powerful.
**Strachan went on to argue that the affair revealed a more immediate problem with our strategy in Afghanistan. Read his essay here.
***In the interests of full disclosure, my employer is a partner of the White House in this welcome new initiative focusing on military families. Also, I think readers of this blog understand I have both long admired Stan McChrystal and completely understood the president's decision to replace him in the aftermath of that Rolling Stone article.
http://www.thenation.com/arti
http://www.thenation.com/article/coalition-shilling.
The Press needs controversy
The Press needs controversy to sell if the blood isn't selling. There isn't any real problem with Civil-Military Relations.
In any case even if the Military Culture were somehow (in a truly alternative Universe) change to where the Military would challenge Civilian Primacy, break the Constitutional Oath, and Senior Officers somehow developed enough of a following amongst the ranks, and the rotation system didn't thwart personal followings...and CPT PYSOPS zaps our minds and takes control of our bodies...and...and...
The Federalist structure of our Constitutional Govt - as much a bulwark for our Rights as the Bill of Rights - and an armed populace for whom self-government is part of our DNA - are sufficient safeguards against one or many Bonapartes.
Worry more about our parlous financial straights* and the increasing divide between a corrupt and incompetent Ruling Class - which we're not supposed to have at all - and the pressed and struggling people, in particular the Middle Class.
The real Divide is between the Governing Class and their rent-seeking trains, and the Governed.
However I think the Republic may yet right itself.
* As Mike Mullen does.
I like reading Richard Kohn's
I like reading Richard Kohn's material, but he has been warning of an impending civil-military crisis since the early 1990s at least (or declaring that we were in the midst of crisis). The chemistry between civilian and military leaders change (Clinton, Bush, now Obama), but always the military is doing something to subvert the proper relationship.
I recall in Huntington's "Soldier and the State" he asserted that by making the military accountable to both the executive and legislative branches, the Constitution drives it towards a certain political character. While Huntington lamented the fact, I think he did note that there are positive aspects to the seperation of powers that outweigh this negative.
I think civil-military
I think civil-military relations are strained (though not a crisis), and I believe that part of this comes from an attitude of superiority towards civil society on the military's part. I also believe (based on anecdotal evidence) this is more prevalent in "special" communities.
Though Gen. McChrystal's remarks were inappropriate, he's far from the proverbial "man on a white horse". He's no Ceaser, he's just a man who used poor judgement.
Nevertheless, there's more to the McChrystal saga (and civil-military relations) than just the Rolling Stone article, including attempts to "box in" the President with a leaked Afghanistan assessment. Thus, I think the media latched on to the story as an example of a very real trend.
The link between the Rolling Stone article and a crisis in civil-military affairs is somewhat tenuous, but I think it does exist.
"In the interests of full
"In the interests of full disclosure, my employer is a partner of the White House in this welcome new initiative focusing on military families."
'm sure the Tillman family isn't too happy with yet another slap in their face by President Obama (read Mary Tillman's foreword for her book "Boots on the Ground by Dusk" in the preview at blurb.com). And documentary, "The Tillman Story," also has interviews with the Tillman family in which they vent their displeasure at the powers-that-be.
Ironically, it's quite possible that Pat Tillman's widow, Marie Tillman, may be working with this effort through her Pat Tillman foundation. She's more willing to forgive and forget (or in the words of President Obama to "move forward").
In May 2004, it appears that Gen. McChrystal directed the writing of Pat Tillman's fraudulent Silver Star and the cover-up of his friendly-fire death by the Ranger RGT officers . Over the next five years, the ensuing "investigations" were part of the bi-partisan whitewash which "exonerated" Gen. McChrystal and others involved of wrong-doing.
Ironcally, although CNAS will help run the "Joining Forces" program, their Fellow Andrew Exum contributed to McChrystal's whitewash with his biased book review of Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Win Glory" (the updated paperback has much more detail on McChrystal's role than the original hardcover).
Maybe Gen. McChrystal and CNAS can do a better job of supporting military families this time around. They certainly didn't take care of the Tillman family. The least they could do would be to confess their sins and offer a sincere apology.
If you're interested in supporting detail for my claims, see http://feralfirefighter.blogspot.com/2010/08/untold-tillman-story.html
In the foreword to the
In the foreword to the paperback edition of her book, “Boots on the Ground by Dusk,” Mary Tillman wrote:
“McChrystal’s actions should have been grounds for firing. That is why it was so disturbing to us when President Obama instead promoted McChrystal to the position of top commander in Afghanistan last year. [On May 12th,] I had sent the President an email and a letter reminding him of McChrystal’s involvement in the cover-up of Pat’s death.”
“I had sent the President an email and a letter reminding him of McChrystal’s involvement in the cover-up of Pat’s death. In the letter, I suggested McChrystal should be “scrutinized very carefully” by the Senate Armed Services Committee. I also contacted the staffs of Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator James Webb and expressed my concerns. I had several conversations with members of the staffs of both senators, but it was clear that neither senator wanted to get involved.”
“… I had always believed Pat’s case was politically awkward for him [Senator McCain] and so he’d chosen to distance himself from the entire affair. … McCain was already publicly endorsing the McChrystal appointment before the hearing even began. … Sadly, McChrystal’s promotion had been sanctioned long before the hearing. None of the congressmen pressed McChrysal about Pat’s case … or detainee abuse and torture at Camp Nama …”
“Over the last five years, the Pentagon and Congress have had numerous opportunities to hold accountable those responsible for the cover-up of Pat’s death. Each time they’ve failed.”
“The Tillman Story illustrates the corruption, deception, and indifference that is systemic in our government. … The cover-up of Pat’s death was orchestrated at the very highest levels of the Pentagon, and elsewhere in our government … the government didn’t just lie to us; it lied to a nation."
P.S. Here's some relevant
P.S. Here's some relevant interview blurbs from Amir Bar-Lev, the director of the documentary "The Tillman Story":
"General McChrystal is just one of several high-ranking figures who’s never been called to account for his role, and the story continues to this very moment. He gets up there at his swearing-in [Senate confirmation hearing June 2, 2009] and basically says what has been said all along, which is, “I know what it looks like. I know that it looks like we deliberately covered it up, but believe us that it was this Rube Goldberg-esque chain of mistakes, blunders, and errors that look like a cover-up.”
"The only f—-ing idiots who buy that, the only fools who believe that, are the mainstream press. It’s just so clear to everyone else, and it’s the equivalent of saying, “Honey, I know that it looks like I’m f—-ing your sister, but actually I dropped my wallet, and then my belt fell down, and she happened to be there.” That’s what the military has done in the Pat Tillman case."
“The public perception is that (the Tillmans) have been apologized to over and over again ... it’s ludicrous,” Bar-Lev said. “The idea there was a mistake is itself a lie. It’s a Rube Goldberg explanation. They (the military officials) say there was never any deliberate attempt to deceive anybody.” … “How somebody can get away with a lie that’s worse than ‘the dog ate my homework’ and that he would be put in charge of the war effort is ridiculous.”
" Listen, it’s not a complicated answer. No one in the government has ever admitted that there was a cover-up, and to watch the contortions that these public figures go to in order to publicly flagellate themselves without admitting what’s pretty obvious to everybody — that they tried to cover up Pat Tillman’s death — is absurd."
Se
Pat Tillman chose to be a
Pat Tillman chose to be a soldier, and soldiers often die in war, quite often regrettably in friendly fire incidents. A couple died that way in Afghanistan recently according to reports. It's sad but unavoidable. As far as any spin that came out of the initial reports, they're usually wrong.
Look at what happened to Jessica Lynch, who never made those Amazon claims. She gets bad mouthed to this day on the web by putative better warriors, I read one recently that her weapon jammed because she didn't maintain it properly. The actual case was she never got off a shot after her HUMMV wrecked, trapping her upside down with both her legs broken. She was unconscious. And upside down, trapped in a wrecked vehicle. Tough to fight from that position. But go stalk her for a while, just to break up the routine.
Change the blogs name to feralExumMcChrystalstalker.
"feralExumMcChrystal stalker"
"feralExumMcChrystal stalker" Nice suggestion. But, I'll stick with "feral", in the sense of "escaped from domestication." My paycheck as a union firefighter doesn't (yet) depend on sucking up to those above me in the food chain.
I spent 8 years as a soldier. I know soldier's die in training (years ago I saw one of my men die in a helo-casting accident). I've spent 20 years as a firefighter. Shit happens. The Tillman family come from a military family and Mary Tillman studied military history in school. They understand friendly fire happens.
"As far as any spin that came out of the initial reports, they're usually wrong." Well, in the Tillman case, word started up the chain of command the evening of April 22nd that it was friendly-fire. The initial 15-6 investigator passed verbal confirmation up his chain of command just two days later on April 24 to then BG McChrystal. Yet, the Silver Star bore no ressemblance whatever to what happened. Five weeks later, Memorial Day weekend, Gen. Kensinger said he "probably died" of friendly fire. Would you call that "spin" or lies?
Now the same guy who orchestrated this "spin" is put in charge of taking care of veterans and their families? Pat Tillman was a man of integrity. Too bad the same can't be said for those up his chain of command all the way to the top. Or for certain ex-LT sycophants who are now "suits" in Washington.
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