We Take Care of Our Own
Taking care of our own is a military tradition, the backbone of trust and the promise made before battle. You get wounded, we’ll get you out, no matter the cost. Taken prisoner? We won’t forget.
All of which has been turned on its ear in Iraq, where troops are sent into battle under-strength, without sufficient armor, their terms of duty arbitrarily extended beyond the enlistment contract and where they are made scapegoat in order to provide deniability up the chain-of-command.
That chain in this case extends to the Secretary of Defense and, above him, the president. Iraq has become the deniable war. Military honor and command structure is, day after day after day, taking a back seat to expedience and deniability.
It’s a hell of a way to run an army and morale across the services is at bedrock bottom.
So, the headline Top Army Officers Are Cleared in Abuse Cases shouldn’t come as all that much of a surprise.
The Army Inspector General’s Report essentially says “We have stuck our fing…