Text 21003, 50 rader
Skriven 2008-09-17 06:45:32 av Bob Ackley (1:300/3)
  Kommentar till text 20835 av shannon talley (1:124/311)
Ärende: Things Change
=====================
Replying to a message of shannon talley to Ross Cassell:

 >> I am just curious, during the portion of your service that encompassed 
 >> January 1993 to January 2001, were you a defacto left wing mouth
 >> piece?

 st> Yes, I did finish a 21 yr career.  During the time from 93-01, the
 st> majority  of the military did not like BC and many formal directives
 st> were issued from  the high ranks in the pentagon directing military
 st> members to withstain from  making any political comments (good or
 st> bad) about the "commander in chief"  or the existing administration
 st> (many resigned).  Regardless of what "Lee"  thinks, the military as a
 st> whole is a very conservative organization.

I don't recall any such orders emanating from the WH or the Pentagon while
I was in the military - 1963-83 - and we had a very unpopular war in progress
during much of that period.  Plus, until 1973 or thereabouts, a goodly chunk of
the military was made up of draftees (or people - like me - who volunteered so
they wouldn't be drafted).

I do recall that Rummy issued just such a directive right after our troops went
across the line into Iraq in 2003.  Apparently he didn't like some of the
public
comments the troops were making.

 st>  Why?  Well, it's easy...
 st> Traditionally (since Regan), the Republicans have awarded  the
 st> military more funds in compensation & operations.  BC did provide an 
 st> adequate amount of compensation, but much of the operations funding
 st> was cut  back.

FWIW, while I was at SAC Headquarters, President Carter dropped in for a
visit.  The Secret Service found it necessary to augment the guards at the
entrances to the building with its own agents, and those agents inspected
briefcases, lunches and any other packages being brought into the building.
Carter was the first president who found this necessary, I remember thinking
he must have felt he wasn't among friends.  Carter was the first president
that additional security was provided for.

A humorous aspect of the aforementioned briefcase inspections was that they
found an embarassing number of highly classified documents coming back IN
to the building.  Removal of such documents from a secure area (i.e. taking
one's
work home with him) violates most of the regulations concerning the handling of
classified materials.  SAC's Director of Administration issued a letter shortly
thereafter reminding one and all about the rules for handling classified
documents.

--- FleetStreet 1.19+
 * Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)