What? Someone from the military suggesting that we need to spend money on things other than the military? Inconceivable!
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday that senior officers must work to prevent the militarization of American foreign policy, and he urged generals and admirals to tell civilian leaders when they believed the armed forces should not take the lead in carrying out policies overseas.
Adm. Mike Mullen, who as chairman is the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, also called for more money and personnel to be devoted to the civilian agencies responsible for diplomacy and overseas economic development.
Silly man. Don’t you know that diplomacy is for wusses and Old Europe types? The only thing diplomats are good for is delivering your unilateral ultimatums … and even then it’s probably better to send over a political appointee than to trust those Liberals over at State.
Admiral Mullen’s tour as chairman will continue into the new administration, and President-elect Barack Obama has asked the current defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, to stay on. Admiral Mullen’s speech was wholly in sync with remarks made by Mr. Gates, who has delivered a series of talks, remarkable for a Pentagon chief, calling for more resources for civilian agencies responsible for American “soft power,” including the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce and Agriculture.
Admiral Mullen acknowledged that the nation had “reached for the military hammer in the toolbox of foreign policy fairly often.” But he underscored a lesson learned during his time in uniform, dating to the Vietnam War, which he described as “an acute understanding of the finite application of force abroad — as well as its impact at home.”
Could it be that the dark spell of the current Administration is already fading?
(via Obsidian Wings)