It's no secret that the Obama Administration has sacked a lot of high ranking military officers during his reign. It might be easy to explain away a few, but why so many? Finally someone once on the inside but now on the outside has ventured an explanation of what's going on. J.D. Gordon was on C-Span yesterday morning discussing this topic. That program is available for viewing online at c-spanvideo.org.
The reason for his appearance on C-Span was his recent article at Washingtontimes.com, GORDON: Purging America’s military. Here are a few excerpts that might provide the gist of it:
Personal indiscretions past and present notwithstanding, perhaps something even more sinister is going on today.
With massive defense-budget cuts amounting to $1 trillion planned over the next decade including sequestration, a shrinking military that includes axing 10 percent of flag and general officer positions worldwide, and 20 percent of headquarters positions at the Pentagon and top operational combatant commands, it seems entirely plausible that the steady stream of firings plays into the Obama administration strategy of military attrition.
Rather than giving these officers the benefit of the doubt, let alone having their back, there appears to be a rush and a push to get rid of them.
Senior officers must be extremely careful these days, in both their professional and personal lives. They must understand that they are under the microscope, and their careers have never been more vulnerable. If admirals, generals, colonels, captains and commanders feel like they must act like saints and walk on eggshells, well, that is today’s reality. It’s not quite 1692 Salem, Mass. — the operative word being “quite.”
Danger signs appear everywhere: disgruntled subordinates unafraid to blow the whistle on real or perceived mistakes; increased ways to get in trouble with email, social media, cameras and video recorders; heightened sensitivity to workplace behavior; political correctness run amok; ever-present investigative journalists, and now bloggers; and a presidential national security team bent on cutting down the ranks. Everyone who wears the uniform should realize they’ve been converted into de facto political pawns. They’re mostly targeted by the left, which is never shy about taking American power down a notch or two — or three.
Ahem, Obama seems to hold others to a higher standard than his own people. More:
Bad behavior and poor performance are never acceptable. Perhaps President Obama should apply the same tough standards to his political appointees at the White House and State Department over incidents such as the Benghazi terrorist attack; at the Justice Department over Operation Fast and Furious; and at the Treasury Department for the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative nonprofit groups.
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