Why the Generals Matter

An interesting article by Stephen Pizzos that explains why the recent "revolt" of the generals against Rumsfeld is so unprecedented, and why they were constrained while on active duty. $Q: I hit Marine Corps bootcamp on July 7, 1965, a wimpy kid from suburbia. The first thing we were told was that we were the lowest forms of life on earth-- and that meant lower than civilians. I was to learn as time went on that this was not just drill instructor blather. It was a genuine, deeply ingrained belief that permeated the highest ranks of the military for civilian control. We were repeatedly told that the lowest civilian we met on the street outranked the highest grade military officer. And that was not show. They believed it, not just as a principle, but a sacred trust. To have a group of distinguished generals collectively break this sacred trust is a screaming alarm that something is deeply awry with the civilian leadership. Even those who don't know the military culture on an intimate level can feel it intuitively, which is why the ludicrous Swiftboating attempts against them from the usual propaganda factories has not found its way into the mainstream discourse.