a buzzflash editorial …..

What we have going on amidst the
generals, present and former, is a mutiny. It's not an armed one, not yet.

When most Americans think of a
mutiny, they think of armed crew members seizing the captain and taking over
command of a ship, as in the famed "Mutiny on the Bounty."

But, what we are seeing in the United States is a public rebuke of the
commander-in-chief, his vice president and his secretary of defense, Donald
Rumsfeld, without an active military revolt as of yet - although that can't be
ruled out. 

As Richard Holbrooke, a former
ambassador to the United Nations, points out in a Washington
Post commentary, "it is also clear that the target is not just
Rumsfeld. Newbold hints at this; others are more explicit in private. But the
only two people in the government higher than the secretary of defense are the
president and vice president. They cannot be fired, of course, and the unspoken
military code normally precludes direct public attacks on the commander in
chief when troops are under fire."

In short, Rumsfeld is the civilian with command oversight who is responsible
for the abysmal failures in the Middle East, but he serves at the pleasure of
the president -he reminds us - and the vice president. They are three peas in a
pod. 

That the mutiny will expand
appears likely. As
BuzzFlash has asserted since John Murtha - the blunt Democratic
"hawk" - first made his emphatic denouncement of the management of
the Iraq War, Murtha is speaking for the active career brass whom he knows
well. They are silenced by the military code that requires public loyalty to
the commander-in-chief, but Murtha, it is clear, is the spokesperson of many
top Pentagon staff given the military gag order. Remember, he is a diehard
Pentagon Democrat.

So, the revolt of the retired generals is likely just the tip of the iceberg. 

What is occurring, on such a
massive scale - as
BuzzFlash has said - is without precedent. It is a vote of no
confidence in the civilian military leadership by the military itself. It is a
cry from those who have been career soldiers that the Bush Administration,
through Rumsfeld, are ruining the armed forces and leading us into defeat into
the Middle East. It is a stunning development - and the significance of the
call for Rumsfeld's resignation and change of course going unheeded cannot be
underestimated.

In short, if Bush continues to refuse to fire Rumsfeld and personally change
course, including asking Cheney to step down, then our military will continue
to decline, our soldiers will continued to be killed, and our nation's national
security will continue to be at risk. On top of that, Bush would have to bring
in a top-notch national security cabinet with professional skills - instead of
loyalist flunkies - and let them run the show. Because Bush is at the epicenter
of the problem himself. (He is after-all the commander-in-chief.)

In the short term, as Holbrooke notes, Bush will continue to back Rumsfeld. 

BuzzFlash attributes this to a
number of things: Bush prefers incompetent loyalists over intelligent self-starters;
Bush thinks that he is inspired by God, accountable only to himself, and that
no one's else's opinion counts; Bush will never admit that he's made a mistake
and chronically mistakes failure for success; Bush has no idea what to do
without Rumsfeld, even if Rumsfeld is doing destructive things; Bush, a man who
was never in combat, thinks that he knows better than the military leaders;
Bush won't let Rumsfeld loose at a time that they already have begun secret
support of guerilla combat activities against the Iranian government; and,
among other reasons, Bush is always afraid that if he fires an inept loyalist,
the loyalist may become disgruntled and right a "tell all" book that
will reveal the dirt on Bush's personal complicity and illegal behavior. 

So, in the short term, the White
House will issue Karl Rove-written statements of support for Rumsfeld. 

But meanwhile our military is
deteriorating, our national security is at continued risk, and the Middle East
is a tinderbox - as no end appears in sight for the quagmire created by Rumsfeld
and the White House. 

The former and current generals -
through John Murtha - are signaling to the American people that our nation's
military and our national security are endangered by the continued presence of
Donald Rumsfeld in the Pentagon and the current military/foreign policy of the
White House. 

Can we afford to remain silent? 

The lives of our soldiers and are
our lives are at stake.

Will we abandon our generals who
are trying to save the American military and us?