Rules of Engagement and Empire Don’t Mix- and ignoring it won’t help

Sheila Samples, a former Army Public Info Officer, wrote an article in Feb of this year that presaged  the current flap created by the Rolling Stone article, The Runaway General, by Michael Hastings.   Sounds like insubordination has been an open secret for a long time.

I have two questions:

• Why did it take an expose to get the Obama Admin to address the problem?
• And why do we have to get this kind of news from Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, or not at all?

Some may characterize this as just the latest public relations blunder.

It’s much more than that. But I fear the major problem is hypocrisy: We have Imperialist motives and goals, but insist on dressing them up as benign.  It’s not surprising those on the front lines feel scorn for their leaders. They risk their lives for Imperialism without being given free rein to pursue it.

We need to get out of Afghanistan now. We no longer have the resources to sustain Empire-building. Not to mention that it is antithetical to what we’re supposed to believe in.

Why can’t we see what dangerous territory our decline is getting us into at home? We might as well be advertising in red-white-blue neon- “Tyrant wanted”.

–Claudia

Update: see also this premonitory article from June 15th about that other mighty warrior “King” David Petraeus and the joys of insubordination:

King David and His Howling Commandos by Jeff Huber

…… A May 24 New York Times story by Mark Mazzetti informed us that last September “King David” Petraeus empowered himself, through a secret directive, to expand “clandestine military activity” throughout his Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility without seeking permission of Congress or the commander in chief. “Clandestine military activity” involves SOCOM assets…..