Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one.

-C.S. Lewis

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

General Pace

General Pace always struck me as a good guy, an honorable man trying to do his best by his soldiers. This story of his contradicting his torture-advocating SoD does nothing to shake that perception.

Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked what orders the troops have to handle such incidents. He responded: "It is absolutely the responsibility of every U.S. service member if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to intervene, to stop it."

He said soldiers who hear of but don't see an incident should deal with it through superiors of the offending Iraqis.

That's when Rumsfeld stepped to the microphone and said, "I don't think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it. It's to report it."

Pace then repeated to Rumsfeld that intervening when witnessing abuse is the order the troops must follow, not just reporting it.
Talk about supporting the troops. What a complete asshole Rumsfeld is. It's really disheartening to see so many of these career military men trying their best to actually win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people while the U.S. civilian leadership does its best to completely undermine that effort.

This blog is based on a true story.