the bloody hands bushgang gets rid of a black general

[donsu]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/columnists/joe_galloway/6736226.htm

The U.S. Army's only serving black four-star general, Gen. Larry R. Ellis, the commanding general of U.S. Forces Command in Atlanta, is being pushed out of his job and into premature retirement, ostensibly so the Army can groom his successor to compete for a higher command job in South Korea next summer.

-snip-

His early and reluctant slide into retirement later this year will leave only one black general officer of three-star or higher rank - Lt. Gen. Kip Ward - on active duty in the Army, and it's likely to provoke a heated reaction on Capitol Hill and beyond.

-snip-

Lt. Gen. (ret.) Julius Becton, a black who soldiered from second lieutenant to lieutenant general in the hard years between 1945 and 1983, told Knight Ridder that the message sent by the action against Ellis "will be one of politics and favoritism."

"It also suggests that the administration is oblivious, particularly in an election year, not only to the subject of professionalism within the Army at the senior level but also to the need for a clear policy on diversity," Becton added.
-snip-
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the article goes on to say they are trying to please Rummy who said the military was "hide bound" so they are "gaming" the process to pick people Rum would like.

apparently Rummy has a lot of brown noses around him. yuck.

[tabasco]

1. Whoa

I worked for LTG Ward when he was a bird colonel. Way to go, dude, three stars. Ward was a very good commander.
I cannot remember a civilian administration purging the military, as the Bush cabal has done. I knew there was a lot of resistance to the administration from the Army during the buildup to the war. I didn't expect the forced retirement of several of our best generals.
The administration knows this is not in the best interest of the country. We have seen the lessons of history with Hitler and his purges. The administration proceeds, knowing they are harming the military in order to have total loyalty. This shows me (among many other things) that this administration DOES NOT CARE about the USA. This corporate cabal is driven by greed, and the only thing that matters is that they steal as much as they can, as fast as the can.

[Sophree]

3. Does the rest of the military realize this?

"The administration proceeds, knowing they are harming the military in order to have total loyalty. This shows me (among many other things) that this administration DOES NOT CARE about the USA. This corporate cabal is driven by greed, and the only thing that matters is that they steal as much as they can, as fast as the can."

We've known this for a while now. Does the rest of the military realize this now? And can we count on their votes going Democratic next time?

[kurtyboy]

2. Becton is no screamin' affirmative action lib

He was Reagan's appointee to head FEMA back in the Cold War days (I met him a couple of times), and Colin Powell spoke of him (as his contemporary and friend) in his book.

If he's coming out publicly like this, I think there will be more cracks in the dam....

[carpetbagger]

4. It's not racism. They're running many top generals out.

They had to bring a general out of retirement to be Army Chief of Staff, because they couldn't find an active-duty Lt Gen or Genreral (3 or 4 star general) to serve.

The ground commander in Iraq (Lt. Gen. McKiernan) was reportedly knocked out of consideration since he didn't say "hoo-ah" enough during Rumsfeld's speech to the troops in Iraq. I'm not kidding.

[Mairead]

5. "a higher command job in South Korea next summer"

Running the pre-election invasion of North Korea, no doubt.

Any bets?