DoD Leaders should lead by example

In the military, leadership by example is the fundamental concept with regard to unit cohesion and morale. During my 20 years on active duty, I often wondered why many of the leaders in my division, department, etc seemed to overlook this. In the late '90's, one had to look no further than our commander in chief, who commited adultery while the UCMJ prohibited all of his military subordinates from doing the same.

Of course, our commander in chief today seems to have broken many, more serious laws with total impunity due to many factors - but chiefly, a timid congress controlled by his own party.

But the person I'd like to discuss today is the head of the DoD, Mr. Rumsfeld. As has been widely reported, Mr. Rumsfeld (who is a public servant and works for us, by the way) stated before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he "never painted a rosy picture" of the war in Iraq.

Well, that turned out to be a deceptive statement by our public servant. Here's the history:

July 9, 2004 - "The residents of Baghdad may not have power 24 hours a day, but they no longer wake up each morning in fear wondering whether this will be the day that a death squad would come to cut out their tongues, chop off their ears of take their children away for questioning, never to be seen again" - Mr. Rumsfeld, before this same committee

Feb. 4, 2004 - "The increased demand on the (US military) force we are experiencing today is likely a 'spike,' driven by the deployment of nearly 115,000 troops in Iraq. We hope and anticipate that that spike will be temporary. We do not expect to have 115,00 troops permanently deployed in any one campaign." - Mr. Rumsfeld, before this same commitee. Oh, I believe we now currently have 133,000 military personnel in Iraq.

June 23, 2005 - "The insurgency remains dangerous to be sure, in many parts of Iraq. But terrorists no longer can take advantage of sanctuaries like Fallujah." - Mr. Rumsfeld, before the House Armed Services Committee. Sen John McCain, just last month, complained that Fallujah was "still not under control."

June 23, 2005 - "These final months between now and that constitutional drafting and the election, (the insurgents) may very well be in their last throes by their own view because they recognize how important it will be if they lose and in fact a democracy is established." - Mr. Rumsfeld, before the Senate Armed Services Committee

March 9, 2005 - "At least thus far, the situation has been such that the Iraqi security forces could for the most part deal with the problems that exist." - Mr. Rumsfeld, before the Senate Appropriations Committee. At present, is there more than one battalion or two of Iraqi soldiers that can battle insurgents without the assistance of American troops? No.

What message can Mr. Rumsfeld's subordinates take from these statements? The General, Admiral, Captain, Sergeant and Airman? The message I guess is that deceit is the order of the day.

I know that this has been covered in other blogs, but the Gnome Spin Zone thinks that we shouldn't forget this deceit. It's a corrosive that trickles right down the chain of commands. This Gnome will not forget Mr. Rumsfeld's words.