A-list message, [A-List] US Imperialism: Army Morale

Hard times ahead for U.S. Army
O'Dell May Be "Crucified" By Pentagon Staff

6/25/2003 1:19:55 PM
Bob Novak

http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak23.html

Hard times ahead for U.S. Army

June 23, 2003

BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement

Two trenchant quotations were repeated through Army corridors of the
Pentagon last week--one by an enlisted infantryman enduring hardships of
occupation duty in Iraq and the other by a four-star general leaving the
service after 38 years. Each was clearly unhappy with Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld. Taken together, their comments signaled hard times ahead
for the U.S. Army.

Last Sunday, a front-page story in the New York Times aroused attention
throughout the Pentagon. Pfc. Matthew C. O'Dell, 1st Brigade of the 3rd
Infantry Division, told a reporter: ''You call Donald Rumsfeld and tell
him our sorry asses are ready to go home. Tell him to come spend a night in
our building.''

Four days earlier, in a speech that marked his retirement as the Army's
chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki said it's ''just not helpful and it
isn't true'' for ''some [to] suggest that we in the Army don't understand the
importance of civilian control of the military.'' He added: ''To muddy the
waters when important issues are at stake, issues of life and death, is a
disservice to all of those in and out of uniform who serve and lead so
well.''

Unlike the private first class, the general did not mention Rumsfeld by
name. But that's who he meant.

O'Dell's complaint echoed previous grumbling by troops occupying Iraq, but
the willingness of a professional soldier to be quoted by name suggested
deep-seated morale problems with profound repercussions. Shinseki's passionate
farewell address reflected the divide between the old Army brass and
Rumsfeld.

At the heart of both men's unhappiness, the Army has been stretched thin
to execute the nation's foreign policy. Shinseki and Rumsfeld were in
continuous tension over how many troops were needed to pacify Afghanistan, to subdue
Iraq and then occupy Iraq.

The end product is Matthew O'Dell's lament for being stuck in Baghdad. The
Washington Post reported Friday from the Iraqi capital that victorious
U.S. troops, under fire in a hazardous occupation, are ''frustrated and
disillusioned'' as peacekeepers deployed too thinly. The unspoken fear in
Army circles is that complaints will depress re-enlistment, so important to an
all-volunteer force, and ultimately diminish the vital corps of
noncommissioned officers.

With more than 370,000 soldiers or 70 percent of the Army deployed in 120
countries, President Bush's capability to pursue his doctrine of
preemption is constrained. In his farewell address, Shinseki called for ''a force sized
correctly to meet the strategy set forth in the documents that guide us.''
He warned: ''Beware the 12-division strategy for a 10-division army.''

Shinseki never was able to persuade the secretary that policy was
outstripping capabilities. When his June 11 speech declared that
''mistrust and arrogance are antithetical to inspired and inspiring leadership,''
everybody in the Pentagon knew he was accusing Rumsfeld of exercising
command but not leadership. The general declared that ''command is about
authority, about an appointment to position,'' but that ''leadership . . . must be
learned and practiced.''

Nobody from the office of the secretary of defense attended Shinseki's
retirement ceremony, and none had been invited. Rumsfeld's response to
Shinseki was bringing back Gen. Pete Schoomaker, who retired in 2000, as
the new chief of staff. That indicated he felt none of the serving three-star
or four-star generals could be trusted. Appointing Schoomaker, renowned in
his career as an exemplar of special operations, was a rebuff to heavy
infantry and tube artillery advocates.

Civilian Defense Department officials have emphasized that the highly
regarded Schoomaker is no yes-man, but it is taken for granted inside the
Pentagon that Rumsfeld would not have picked another no-man. It is taken
for granted that the gruff and difficult James Roche, shifted from secretary
of the Air Force to secretary of the Army, will do Rumsfeld's bidding (in
contrast to his fired predecessor, Thomas White)--once he is confirmed by
the Senate.