hihi
“When you are tempted to trust a general, remember how he got to be one.”
The title of the post is a pithy saying that my father, who served 34 years in the US Army, offered to me when he finally realized that I was determined to accept a commission in his army. He had several other memorable
bon mots. What he was telling me in this one was his observation that the great majority of flag officers cannot be trusted.
I worked with many generals during my service as an officer and later as a career SES. My father was correct.
The system in the US and any other country’s armed forces produces in peace time and any condition short of total war, men who may well look like leaders of men devoted to their trade and its mysteries but whom in fact are highly skilled politicians who will dissemble, lie and betray anyone or anything to protect themselves and their precious careers.
Why do I bring this unpleasant truth to the fore?
The question is now asked as to how the US government could have been so deceived with regard to the real capabilities of the Afghan armed forces in the pre-Taliban government era. How did this happen?
The generals in charge in Afghanistan for 20 years were either so stupid, and blind that they could not understand the evidence everywhere around them or they simply lied in their reporting and to visitors.
Why would they do that. You know the answer. They lied to cover their asses to make themselves look good to those who could advantage them. pl
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