Who Better To Speak the Truth?
by James Glaser
October 17, 2007

Twelve former Army captains have spoken out about what is going on in Iraq. All twelve have served in George Bush's war over there, and they are in a position to give us an honest view of the war.

Captains have proved themselves to be fine officers. They have been rewarded by the Army for good work, by being promoted twice. Captain is a middle rank, and sort of the cut off point, before deciding to make the service a career. You get to be a Major or above, and you have so much invested in the Army, that you can no longer tell the world what you really think, you have to tow the official line.

These 12 Captains wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post.

Here are a few lines from their letter, but you really should read the whole thing to see what they think about Bush's war.

Today marks five years since the authorization of military force in Iraq, setting Operation Iraqi Freedom in motion. Five years on, the Iraq war is as undermanned and under-resourced as it was from the start. And, five years on, Iraq is in shambles.

The inability to govern is exacerbated at all levels by widespread corruption. Transparency International ranks Iraq as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition.

Higher ranking officers can not tell the American people what they really think about what is going in this war or any other. Any officer who speaks his mind will lose any chance for a career, so to keep the path open for promotion, officers had better follow the Pentagon's lead on anything they say.

Lower ranking officers like these 12 Captains, have given up any chance for a military career with this letter. Maybe these men and women decided that our country was more important that stepping up to that next pay grade.

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