Originally published on the CGS blog on June 26, 2007.
Or should I say, George Orwell?
After being reminded of this interesting historical tidbit, I went back and took a peek at my heavily-worn, dog-eared copy of Homage, Orwell’s reportage of the Spanish Civil War told from his warrior’s perspective, to see what would strike me this time around. And here’s the quote that nearly jumped off the page and smacked me:
Every war suffers a kind of progressive degradation with every month that it continues, because such things as individual liberty and a truthful press are simply not compatible with military efficiency.
What made this all the more relevant was a recent Defense News article by Lawrence Korb entitled, “Lost Professionalism: The Firing of Pace Tramples Civil-Military Relations.” In his piece, Korb, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a Senior Advisor to the Center for Defense Information , argues:
The decision by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates not to renominate Gen. Peter Pace to a second two-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) because of the possibility of a difficult confirmation hearing may have some short-term benefits for the Bush administration by sparing it another re-examination of its failed policies in Iraq. But the long-term damage to civil-military relations and military professionalism will be substantial.
Apparently “difficult confirmation hearings” can be added to “individual liberty” and “truthful press” as things that are incompatible with military efficiency (or political expediency). But here’s the money quote:
If Secretary Gates had said that he wanted his own person as chairman, rather than the one he inherited from Rumsfeld, that would have been perfectly appropriate. Indeed, that is one of the reasons that the chairman and vice chairman of the JCS, unlike the service chiefs, are appointed for two years instead of four. But Gates said he intended to give Pace the customary two-year reappointment but changed his mind when it became clear that the Marine general would face a contentious reconfirmation hearing.
And why would the hearings become contentious? Not because of anything Pace said or did but because of the misrepresentations of the president and his appointees. Moreover, Pace was confirmed unanimously as chairman in September 2005, after four years as vice chairman, some 36 months after the invasion of Iraq. By then it was already clear that the administration had cherry-picked the intelligence and had underestimated how long and difficult the war would be.
Gates claims that he is throwing Pace overboard for the good of the country. Nonsense. Pace is being sacrificed to spare the administration further embarrassment.
When professional military men like Pace are being scarified to eschew political embarrassment rather than for disastrous decision-making, I think it’s safe to say our already debilitating Iraq War is progressively degrading. Unfortunately, it looks like U.S. civil-military relations and our democracy might be as well. Happy birthday, George Orwell!
