Different Times

pettyfog · Nov 10, 2006

From The London Times: Troops fear Rumsfeld's exit will end their Iraq mission

Half of America and the upper echelons of the US military may be cheering Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation from the post of Defence Secretary, but there was no rejoicing yesterday among those most directly affected by his decisions: the frontline soldiers in Iraq.

Troops expressed little pleasure at the departure of the man responsible for their protracted deployment to a hostile country where 2,839 of their comrades have died.
But one US army colonel, who did not want to be named, said that such positive views were uncommon in the higher ranks of the US military. “We are the ones closer to the problem. We are the ones who have the broader picture,” he said.

The colonel criticised Mr Rumsfeld for sending too few troops to Iraq, and for refusing to listen to the advice of his generals. He noted that General Eric Shinseki, the former US Army Chief of Staff, was dismissed for demanding more troops, while General John Abizaid, the commander of Central Command, was the sole general to have differed publicly with Mr Rumsfeld and survived.
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NY Times:
Marines Get the News From an Iraqi Host: Rumsfeld’s Out. ‘Who’s Rumsfeld?’

Hashim al-Menti smiled wanly at the marine sergeant beside him on his couch. The sergeant had appeared in the darkness on Wednesday night, knocking on the door of Mr. Menti’s home.
When Mr. Menti answered, a squad of infantrymen swiftly moved in, making him an involuntary host.

Since then marines had been on his roof with rifles, watching roads where insurgents often planted bombs.

Mr. Menti had passed the time watching television. Now he had news. He spoke in broken English. “Rumsfeld is gone,” he told the sergeant, Michael A. McKinnon.

“Democracy,” he added, and made a thumbs-up sign. “Good.”

The marines had been on a continuous foot patrol for several days, hunting for insurgents. They were lost in the hard and isolating rhythms of infantry life.

They knew nothing of the week’s news.

Now they were being told by an Iraqi whose house they occupied that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, one of the principal architects of the policies that had them here, had resigned. “Rumsfeld is gone?” the sergeant asked. “Really?”

Mr. Menti nodded. “This is better for Iraq,” he said. “Iraqi people say thank you.”

The sergeant went upstairs to tell his marines, just as he had informed them the day before that the Republican Party had lost control of the House of Representatives and that Congress was in the midst of sweeping change. Mr. Menti had told them that, too.

“Rumsfeld’s out,” he said to five marines sprawled with rifles on the cold floor.

Lance Cpl. James L. Davis Jr. looked up from his cigarette. “Who’s Rumsfeld?” he asked.
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At least the NY Times explains, furhter down, the fairly unique world view of a Marine fighting unit.

.. Marine infantry units have traditionally been nonpolitical, to the point of stubbornly embracing a peculiar detachment from policy currents at home. It is a pillar of the corps’ martial culture: those with the most at stake are among the least involved in the decisions that send them where they go.
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But wait... most dont really READ further down, do they!!!

Just like most of you seem to tire of my links... It's only my subject matter or tone that you want to see about.

When I was in boot camp, back in the sixties, they spent about as much time on the USN chain of command, up through SecDef, as they did the Code of Conduct. To be sure, most probably took a mental nap.

But the world view of the Marines, once we were on station, became a weapon of barbed verbal jousting: "Stupid Jarheads!" Whether the speaker knew anymore than they did or not.

To those Marines it doesnt matter anyway.

But referring to the former article, it will be interesting to see if the media will go back and ask those upper level Officers what they think of the upcoming 'Bug-Out' shift.

Dont bet on them doing that.

Forum	Title	Date
Miscellaneous	Different Directions	Mar 7, 2007
Miscellaneous	Now for something different...	Jan 11, 2007
Miscellaneous	Jerry Ford: A different view..	Dec 28, 2006
Miscellaneous	And now for something different..	Nov 21, 2006
Miscellaneous	Now for something different...	Nov 3, 2006

Different Times

pettyfog Well-Known Member

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