General Dreedle Wants You To Like Him

In light of the recent parade of shiny brass stars coming forward from their well-deserved retirement to call for the resignation of Field Marshall Donald Von Rumsfeld, I'd like to bring to your attention an old news article about a general who lost his career when he publically contradicted the Defense Secretary by saying the Army was stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan and needed more troops.

This was from almost one whole year ago, i.e. from back in those halcyon days when it still looked like Rummy might still be a military genius and Iraq might soon become a Jeffersonian democracy, complete with atheists, objectivists and snake oil salesmen.

My favorite part of this article follows:

He was given 24 hours to leave the Army. He had no parade in review, no rousing martial music, no speeches or official proclamations praising his decades in uniform, the trappings that normally herald a high-level military retirement.

Instead, Riggs went to a basement room at Fort Myer, Va., and signed some mandatory forms. Then a young sergeant mechanically presented him with a flag and a form letter of thanks from President Bush.

"That's the coldest way in the world to leave," Riggs, 58, said in a drawl that betrays his rural roots in southeast Missouri. "It's like being buried and no one attends your funeral."

I point this out so you know just what it was all those generals whom you're hearing from now were avoiding by not speaking up about their lack of confidence sooner.