It’s curious how each and every one of the following figures chose the dark side. This despite their oaths, their swearings-in with hands atop various Bibles, and their pledges of patriotism, integrity, loyalty and honor.
Their avowals were obviously meaningless.
In these particular cases, instead of it being a climbing of the corporate ladder, these yes-men rose through the military ranks through brown-nosing and looking the other way — not by modeling the standards of military ethics.
When push came to shove for these con artist leaders — like with members of any other ordinary entity — far too many signaled their leadership by covering their asses.
Antonio Taguba literally was an army of one. He lived the bedrock principles instilled throughout his life and during his time of service, unfettered by any sort of moral relativism and unwilling to sell himself or others out for personal gain.
Therefore, he was too dangerous to have around any longer.
Pat Tillman lost his life to friendly fire, the coverup being yet another inexplicably shameful military episode. Antonio Taguba lost ‘only’ his career to friendly fire. Nobody attempted to protect or rescue him — instead all turned their backs on a fallen comrade.
A court martial followed by hard time is too good for these imposters.
As an aside, one can’t imagine the management types in the VFW and American Legion will have any response to the latest news — they’ll just continue to slumber.
The same goes for the GOP, those arbiters of morality who chose political party over the nation, political party over the military, political party above all else, thereby putting the safety of this nation at risk.
Here’s the dishonor roll courtesy of Seymour Hersh’s latest in The New Yorker:
Richard Cody – “…In January of 2006, Taguba received a telephone call from General Richard Cody, the Army’s Vice-Chief of Staff. “This is your Vice,” he told Taguba. “I need you to retire by January of 2007.” No pleasantries were exchanged, although the two generals had known each other for years, and, Taguba said, “He offered no reason.” (A spokesperson for Cody said, “Conversations regarding general officer management are considered private personnel discussions. General Cody has great respect for Major General Taguba as an officer, leader, and American patriot.,,”)
Richard Myers – “…”Here . . . comes . . . that famous General Tagubaof the Taguba report!” Rumsfeld declared, in a mocking voice. The meeting was attended by Paul Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld’s deputy; Stephen Cambone, the Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (J.C.S.); and General Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, along with Craddock and other officials. Taguba, describing the moment nearly three years later, said, sadly, “I thought they wanted to know. I assumed they wanted to know. I was ignorant of the setting.”
John Abizaid – “…Taguba got a different message, however, from other officers, among them General John Abizaid, then the head of Central Command. A few weeks after his report became public, Taguba, who was still in Kuwait, was in the back seat of a Mercedes sedan with Abizaid. Abizaid’s driver and his interpreter, who also served as a bodyguard, were in front. Abizaid turned to Taguba and issued a quiet warning: “You and your report will be investigated…”
Ricardo Sanchez – “…Taguba came to believe that Lieutenant General Sanchez, the Army commander in Iraq, and some of the generals assigned to the military headquarters in Baghdad had extensive knowledge of the abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib even before Joseph Darby came forward with the CD. Taguba was aware that in the fall of 2003when much of the abuse took placeSanchez routinely visited the prison, and witnessed at least one interrogation. According to Taguba, “Sanchez knew exactly what was going on.”
As for George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, et al –
Taguba went on, “There was no doubt in my mind that this stuff “the explicit images ”was gravitating upward. It was standard operating procedure to assume that this had to go higher. The President had to be aware of this.” He said that Rumsfeld, his senior aides, and the high-ranking generals and admirals who stood with him as he misrepresented what he knew about Abu Ghraib had failed the nation.
“From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service,” Taguba said. “And yet when we get to the senior-officer level we forget those values. I know that my peers in the Army will be mad at me for speaking out, but the fact is that we violated the laws of land warfare in Abu Ghraib. We violated the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We violated our own principles and we violated the core of our military values. The stress of combat is not an excuse, and I believe, even today, that those civilian and military leaders responsible should be held accountable.”
