Why does the Pentagon keep echoing the emperor's "ISIS is on the defensive" bullshit?
As ISIS takes one city after another, and sets off bombs outside mosques of other branches of Islam, spokesmen at the Pentagon are increasingly making statements that seem...well, divorced from reality.
Specifically, they're echoing the White House line in saying ISIS is "on the defensive," when it's obvious to anyone with an IQ over 80 that this is bullshit.
Since saying obviously false things like that makes the entire military look stupid, why in the world would military officers do it?
Simple: their bosses order 'em to. And unless you want to retire, you follow orders.
But why would their bosses--who you would think would want the U.S. armed forces to have the best possible reputation, instead of being viewed as goofy political hacks and know-nothings, like the hapless "Baghdad Bob"...
Stop right there. The civilians at the very top of the Pentagon are NOT military. In fact they've often never served in the military. They're chosen for their political allegiance to the president. And of course they can be fired by the emperor if they don't do what he wants.
And when it comes down to the choice of "Do I order colonels to make obvious bullshit statements, and keep my excellent job, or the opposite?" the answer is pretty clear.
The requirement that appointees obey or risk being fired is why all heirarchical organizations take on the character of the top person. If that person is a weaselly, lying, cover-his-ass political sack of shit, his orders quickly cause the entire organization to deteriorate. If you're a wing commander and the actions of the people above you show that they're far more concerned with, say, achieving diversity goals than being operationally ready to accomplish your mission, that quickly becomes your main goal.
Eh, no big deal, citizen: After all, the Cold War is over, and ISIS is way over the horizon from our shores. Why do we even need the military anymore, eh? Just think how many daycare centers and social-justice studies programs and World Peace Centers we could fund with all the money we'd save by eliminating the military.
Meanwhile, your media is dutifully echoing the White Hut line of portraying ISIS as "on the defensive." "A JV team."
A few thousand residents of Ramadi beg to differ.
Specifically, they're echoing the White House line in saying ISIS is "on the defensive," when it's obvious to anyone with an IQ over 80 that this is bullshit.
Since saying obviously false things like that makes the entire military look stupid, why in the world would military officers do it?
Simple: their bosses order 'em to. And unless you want to retire, you follow orders.
But why would their bosses--who you would think would want the U.S. armed forces to have the best possible reputation, instead of being viewed as goofy political hacks and know-nothings, like the hapless "Baghdad Bob"...
Stop right there. The civilians at the very top of the Pentagon are NOT military. In fact they've often never served in the military. They're chosen for their political allegiance to the president. And of course they can be fired by the emperor if they don't do what he wants.
And when it comes down to the choice of "Do I order colonels to make obvious bullshit statements, and keep my excellent job, or the opposite?" the answer is pretty clear.
The requirement that appointees obey or risk being fired is why all heirarchical organizations take on the character of the top person. If that person is a weaselly, lying, cover-his-ass political sack of shit, his orders quickly cause the entire organization to deteriorate. If you're a wing commander and the actions of the people above you show that they're far more concerned with, say, achieving diversity goals than being operationally ready to accomplish your mission, that quickly becomes your main goal.
Eh, no big deal, citizen: After all, the Cold War is over, and ISIS is way over the horizon from our shores. Why do we even need the military anymore, eh? Just think how many daycare centers and social-justice studies programs and World Peace Centers we could fund with all the money we'd save by eliminating the military.
Meanwhile, your media is dutifully echoing the White Hut line of portraying ISIS as "on the defensive." "A JV team."
A few thousand residents of Ramadi beg to differ.
posted by SF at
12:16 PM
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