A General's Revolt?

It has been said many times that it was easier to convince the entire population of Athens of the necessity to launch a war than it was to convince a single Spartan of the same. That is because the Spartans were professional warriors, and war was not taken lightly by them. It was judiciously considered and employed only as a last resort.

The Times of London reported Sunday that no less than five flag-rank officers currently serving in the U.S. armed services will resign their commissions if the Cheney-Bush administration pursue their singularly focused warmaking ways and attacks Iran openly. (Quite a lot of hostile activity directed toward Iran has already been going on, it's just happening "below the CNN line.")

This is unprecedented, and if five flag-ranks left en masse, it would be a devastating blow and could quite possibly bring down the administration.

Put bluntly, it would be the hugest thing ever. How huge it would become would depend on how many command level officers followed the Generals and Admirals, but I can see a scenario playing out that makes me want to hide under the bed and set the alarm for six months. You can't win a war without field commanders. I can't make it any plainer. The only time in the history of the United States military that would compare to such an event would be the secession of the Confederacy, when half of the military, officers and all, left with it.

It is not only the military on the verge of revolt. The intelligence community is at odds as well, career professionals are disgruntled and openly voicing opposition to the political appointees they answer to, and to administration policies in general.

This is the last thing in the world I want to see play out, and I hope the Honor Code and dedication to upholding the Constitution means as much to the Officers serving right now as they do to me.

Watching this chess-match play out will be disquieting at best, and quite possibly horrifying. The odds of the latter seems pretty good to me, since we have "Checkers Men" at the helm.

[Cross-posted from Watching Those We Chose]