Obama and His Generals

The United States has lost another General. President Barack Obama said Tuesday he accepted Marine General John Allen's request to retire rather than proceed with the White House's previous plan to make him commander of NATO forces in Europe. General Allen requested retirement "so that he can address health issues within his family," Obama said. The President did not elaborate but the Washington Post quoted Allen on Monday as saying that his wife suffers from a combination of chronic health issues that include an autoimmune disorder. General Allen's distinguished career includes a tour of duty in Iraq that is credited with helping turn the tide of that war in 2007, took a surprise turn last fall when the Pentagon announced that he was being investigated for potentially inappropriate email exchanges with a civilian woman in Florida who was a secondary player in the General Petraeus affair. Last month the Pentagon announced that he had been cleared of any wrongdoing and President Obama said he was prepared to go forward with the NATO confirmation. At that point Allen asked for time to reconsider. It is not clear whom President Obama will name to replace Allen as NATO Commander. Unfortunately, General Allen is just tbe latest in the growing list of American Generals to retire or be fired by President Obama. Last October, U.S. military officials denied claims that General Carter Ham, former head of US Africa command, may have been fired due to an intent to disobey Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's order to "stand down" while the September 11 attacks in Benghazi were underway. Rumors circling the internet claimed that General Ham wanted to send special forces units to help Americans under siege in Libya despite orders from Secretary Panetta to stand down. Ham was supposedly relieved of his command by a junior officer just before Ham was to order the rescue mission. None of this information has been confirmed. Last October 18, Defense Secretary Panetta and the Army announced that President Obama "had nominated Genera David M. Rodriguez to succeed General Carter F. Ham as the commander of US Africa Command." General Ham retired after almost 40 years of distinguished military service. He was a few years short of the mandatory retirement age of 64, fueling speculations that the general was fired. Other Generals have been relieved - mostly while serving in Afghanistan - General David McKiernan, was ousted on May 11, 2009, a year before his Afghanistan term as commander was set to end. Then serving Defense Secretary Robert Gates wanted McKiernan's resignation as newly elected President Barack Obama launched a counter-insurgency strategy of working to undermine the Taliban's pull on the population. It was the first presidential dismissal of a wartime general since President Harry Truman fired General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War. Obama replaced McKiernan with General Stanley A. McChrystal, who had a background in special operations and came in with a mandate to remake the war effort with the help of "surge" troops. But he lasted only 13 months. In June 2010, Rolling Stone published an article that quoted scathing remarks McChrystal and his aides made about their civilian bosses, including Vice President Joseph Biden, as fools who were ignorant of the complexities of war. Obama summoned McChrystal to Washington to explain and forced him to resign. General David Petraeus took over the Afghan command in July 2010 to fill the void left by McChrystal's abrupt departure and agreed to serve for one year. He completed that term and then retired from the military to become CIA director in September 2011. Petraeus resigned as CIA director last November 9 after he had an extramarital affair with his biographer. The affair came out as part of an unusual FBI investigation into suspicious emails between the biographer and another woman. General Allen was appointed by Obama to oversee the drawdown of U.S. and international forces ahead of the planned transfer of security responsibility to the Afghan government in 2014. Allen retired this week. ~~~~~ Dear readers, US law explicitly limits the total number of four-star officers that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty general officers is capped at 230 for the Army 208 for the Air Force, 60 for the Marine Corps. For the Army, Navy, and Air Force, no more than 25% of the service's active duty general or flag officers may have more than two stars, and a statute sets the total number of four-star generals allowed in each service - 7 four-star Army generals, 9 four-star Air Force generals and 2 four-star Marine generals. So, in firing five four-star generals, President Obama has eliminated almost 1/3 of America's most senior military commanders. It is, to be clear, the President's right to do this. But, the President's wisdom in firing 1/3 of his general officer group should at least be scrutinized. The military are enormously more respected and admired than any politician, political party, or President now serving in Washington. And perhaps this is how it should be if we consider the dismal state of affairs now gripping the federal government. So, we might ask if these very popular, highly respected and conservative generals were seen as competition. Did they need to be tarnished to prevent their becoming political rivals? The only exception to this is General Petraeus, who brought about his own downfall. We cannot know the President's motives. But what we do know is that America has been weakened in the military world because of the loss of these leaders. We also know that their replacements are not well-known and pose no political threat. Americans will not cease to admire their military leaders because of firings. The real question is how long the military will submit to civilian commanders who treat their general military officers as political pawns, as subordinates whose expertise can be cancelled at will by the President. Not forever. As Shakespeare put into words in Henry V's immortal St. Crispin Day speech at the battle of Agincourt : "But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day."