The Coming of the Political Military

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had political officers embedded throughout its military command hierarchy to ensure the political reliability of the military. After the purges of the 1930s, the Soviet military had all the political ambitions of a lap-dog and the martial skills of Toulouse Lautrac. As the Finns showed in the first Winter War and what the Germans experienced during the opening of Operation Barbarossa. Since the Finns just wanted to be left alone, they never invaded the USSR while the sheer vastness of that country plus miscalculations on the Germans' part saved the USSR.

Then there is the model of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army. The obedience of this army was ensured by the placing of Hussein's tribal kin and ardent supporters in the command slots. So one had an Iraqi minority suppressing the majority of the country's populace. In the Iran-Iraq War, Desert Storm, and Operation Iraqi Freedom we saw how well this military fought.

So what did the Progressive Socialist democrats under the aegis of Nancy Pelosi do to cause me to write the above paragraphs? They did what they always do, commission a study to push their corrosive agenda. Congress just got delivered this report from the Military Leadership Diversity Commission. Surprise is not an option on this report. It concludes there are not enough women and minorities in senior command slots, that the military hierarchy is top heavy in white men.

The report ordered by Congress in 2009 calls for greater diversity in the military's leadership so it will better reflect the racial, ethnic and gender mix in the armed forces and in American society.

I am so glad the Progressive Socialist Democrats got routed last November. I see the canard has been trotted out that women can't ascend to the higher echelons because they can't serve in combat areas. The commander of the MPs at Abu Gharib was female. One of USS Churchill's former captains got relieved for cause when she did a Captain Queeg on the cruiser she commanded. On the flip side we are witnessing the purge of Captain Honors and others for funny though slightly risque videos. The first two examples are of people promoted to positions of authority they were not qualified to hold but they made the Army and Navy look good. While the third has the faint whiff of a Peoples Tribunal where the most minor deviance is grounds for destruction and a warning to all those white males in command to shut up or else. This report, if not properly refuted, will help lay the groundwork for quotas for senior command slots. Which will mean less qualified people will be put in senior slots and hazarding the lives of American warriors, thus increasing the chances in any future conflict the US will be defeated.

Though the final nail in this coffin is this: as it stands now for an officer to wear at least one star; they must walk on water, graduate from many schools in the military and civilian side, and then get vetted by Congress. To make the US military more diverse by Congressional fiat will obviate the need for all that schooling, one will just have to have the right ethnic makeup and the correct contacts. Which means an American military will become more political in nature as it's combat prowess withers. Which again is not a healthy recipe for the American Republic and a grave disservice to those actual heros like David Petraeus or Allen West.