Civilian Control of the Military/Military Indictment of Civilian Leadrship

Retired generals Anthony Zinni and Paul Eaton say that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should resign. Today’s On Point, a public radio program that airs on Boston’s WBUR and other stations (http://www.onpointradio.org), features an hour-long conversation with Gen. Eaton in which he assesses Rumsfeld’s performance as a dismal failure. A main complaint seems to be that Rumsfeld micromanages tactical issues in the Iraq war that would previously have been left to the discretion of military command. When military brass criticize Pentagon policy, the result is public humiliation and professional retribution. (“In the five years he has presided over the Pentagon, I have seen group-think become dominant.”)

I have no doubt that this Administration is too ignorant and ideologically blinkered to have executed a successful liberation of Iraq. I also have no doubt that the divisions and internal conflicts within the Administration contribute to its practical failures. A need to downplay these failings leads the civilian Administration to unite in blaming the media, which in turn leads military leaders to defend the media against an Administration that has so slighted them.

But we have to be a little wary, do we not, of liberal media programs trumpeting military indictments of our civilian leadership? How do we react, after all, to hawkish military criticisms of Democratic administrations' policy? Normally, liberals’ greater fear is undue military influence on civilian policy. And this is a reasonable fear. I feel that we have to ask ourselves: Are Zinni and Eaton critical of the role of our military industrial complex and its influence on American politics? Or are the On Point crew giving a quick microphone to enemies of the Administration without really thinking about the deeper issues.