Time: Sat Jun 28 10:51:51 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id KAA18543; Sat, 28 Jun 1997 10:51:42 -0700 (MST) by usr01.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id KAA12792; Sat, 28 Jun 1997 10:51:35 -0700 (MST) Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 10:49:55 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: SOVIET-STYLE PURGE NOW STALKS DEMORALIZED MILITARY (fwd) <snip > >SOVIET-STYLE PURGE NOW STALKS DEMORALIZED MILITARY > >by Georgie Ann Geyer > > >NEWPORT, R.I. -- When the subject of the military's >"adultery witch-hunt" surfaces here in the dignified >halls of the Naval War College, interestingly enough >the ominous word "Soviet" often comes up. > >A young officer studying here first used the >word as we discussed the terror in much of the >military today over the consuming sexual politics. >"We're becoming more Soviet," this colonel said. >"People are opting out, and vertical trust is dying >because nobody believes he will be defended by >his superiors. Our best people are just bypassing >the best positions." > >When I discussed this and other subjects with >Rear Adm. James R. Stark, the experienced president >of the college, he began by saying simply: "It's >a purge. If you study the Soviet Union as I did >in graduate school, you know that purges, once >started, have a life of their own--and they keep >rolling until they stop. > >"In the beginning, I was rather sympathetic >with Lt. Kelly Flinn, but then I saw that her case >had nothing to do with adultery. She preyed on >the spouse of an enlisted person, not only lied >but conspired to lie. ... This is a fracturing >of the trust that you have to have in the service." > >Then he paused and added: "Can you imagine >what would have happened if something like this >had happened during Vietnam? You can't fight a >war like Vietnam with something like this. Everybody >I know looks at this and says, 'Isn't this a tragedy? >This is not what America is about.'" > >And still another leading officer has picked >up on the comparison with today's military witch- >hunt to the late Soviet Union, with its vicious >tactics for breaking down consciences and deconstructing >institutions. Gen. Michael Dugan, former Air Force >chief of staff, has been quoted as saying that >the military "hotlines," which should have been >a "temporary, pressure-relieving" mechanism to >report real sexual harassment, have instead become >a KGB-style "commissar system" for personal vengeance >and the destruction of careers. > >These are some of the remarks, often private >and sometimes whispered or written on notes, that >emerged in the corridors of the college's 1997 >Current Strategy Forum, where retired officers >and serving officers meet once a year. It is clear >that people in the services see problems far deeper >than sex stemming from the present "witch-hunt." > >One young captain, for instance, quietly handed >me some ideas he had patiently written out: "Despite >the protests to the contrary, the military's public >'people are first' message always seems an afterthought >-- this is part of what is eating away at our trust, >both vertical and lateral. The wholesale replacement >of 'intangible' rewards (belief in the system, >pride in serving your country) with material incentives, >when added to this 'afterthought,' strikes directly >at the esprit. > >"It's no longer an adventure, but a job -- >that's the increasingly common complaint among >the older, more experienced members of the force." > >What is NOT being discussed, either in the >military academies or in Washington, for that matter, >is 1) What are the dynamics and the process behind >the destruction of careers in the name of something >(adultery, without related real infractions of >the military code) that is not even illegal? and >2) Why does the Soviet analogy so constantly come >up? > >First, when we look at the dynamics, we find >that the military, by instituting those "hotlines" >after the Tailhook scandal, ostensibly to report >real infractions or crimes, should have realized >that it was obliterating the meticulous historical >protections afforded by American law against anonymous >accusation. > >Once thousands of calls poured in without >any check on them, callers could and did then call >a Washington press corps that has long been obsessed >with "getting"--read, destroying--almost any >kind of authority figure. In the sad case of Gen. >Joseph Ralston, whose ambitions to be chairman >of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were destroyed by >a love affair 13 years ago (which was not even >illegal under military rules), avid reporters then >went to his divorce proceedings, found the "dirt, >" and went to the Pentagon with it. Ralston then >took his name out of the running. > >Second, many of the tactics being employed >are indeed Soviet-style ones: the anonymous threat, >the public humiliation, the forced public confession, >the destruction of personality and career through >unsubstantiated and unproven accusations, and the >assumed "collective guilt" of whole groups like >the military. > >Indeed, since the two superpowers began grappling >with each other for world dominance in the 1920s >and '30s, the tactics of each have infiltrated >the other. It is hardly surprising, although Americans >seem to need to deny it, that so many self-proclaimed >"Marxists" in American intellectual life have brought >these tactics with them and that they have passed >over into other areas of public life. > > >June 13, 1997 > >Copyright © 1997 > >========================================================================== <snip> ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.2 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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