Mr. President, Ask Those That Know

By Oak Leaf ~ July 5th, 2006 @ 3:00 pm

Seymour Hersh wrote an article on Moday entitled “The military’s problem with the President’s Iran policy.” From my vantage point the intersting paragraph was:

Inside the Pentagon, senior commanders have increasingly challenged the President’s plans, according to active-duty and retired officers and officials. The generals and admirals have told the Administration that the bombing campaign will probably not succeed in destroying Iran’s nuclear program. They have also warned that an attack could lead to serious economic, political, and military consequences for the United States.

First, planning is not a function performed by the “generals and admirals.” The detaled work to determine what can and can not be done is perormed by Majors, Lieutenant Colonels and Colonels.

Unfortunately, Flag Rank inside the beltway is extremely political.

If the President and/or Congress wants to know what can and can not be done, they would be better served by asking the Field Grade Officers in the operational planning community.