"YOU CAN'T SAY THAT" BUMILLER DOES SOME "CAN SAY THAT" REPORTING

In an interesting article in the NY Times, Bumiller reports on the many discussion in the Army about the Iraq War. She notes that much of the openness started with LTC Yingling's piece in the Armed Forces Journal and has continued since then. This is a continuation of a WSJ article that reported on the discussion within our armed forces. I felt proud to be an American after reading Bumiller's account of the open and frank discussion about Iraq occurring in our military:

As the war grinds through its fifth year, Fort Leavenworth has become a front line in the military’s tension and soul-searching over Iraq. Here at the base on the bluffs above the Missouri River, once a frontier outpost that was a starting point for the Oregon Trail, rising young officers are on a different journey — an outspoken re-examination of their role in Iraq.

Discussions between a New York Times reporter and dozens of young majors in five Leavenworth classrooms over two days — all unusual for their frankness in an Army that has traditionally presented a facade of solidarity to the outside world — showed a divide in opinion. Officers were split over whether Mr. Rumsfeld, the military leaders or both deserved blame for what they said were the major errors in the war: sending in a small invasion force and failing to plan properly for the occupation.

But the consensus was that not even after Vietnam was the Army’s internal criticism as harsh or the second-guessing so painful, and that airing the arguments on the record, as sanctioned by Leavenworth’s senior commanders, was part of a concerted effort to force change.

I'm proud because our Army is having the kind of discussions needed in our society at large. Too bad the gasbags likes Limbaugh and Hannity and the neo-cons like Krauthammer and bloggers like AssRocket have fought so hard and so successfully to squelch debate on Iraq.

At the close of her article, Bumiller writes this:

One question that silenced many of the officers was a simple one: Should the war have been fought?

“I honestly don’t know how I feel about that,” Major Powell said in a telephone conversation after the discussions at Leavenworth.

“That’s a big, open question,” General Caldwell said after a long pause.

Will these two be accused of being defeatists by the war whores?