“If I wished to punish a province, I would have it governed by philosophers”

I've gone through the comments I've had in the last month, and I was gratified to see some people that I've not seen before. I have no idea how people stumble across this since I've stopped telling people to read it, but it's nice to have you (if of course you've come back). So what today?

Well, Rob Semrau has gotten the boot from the Army, further disillusioning me with the way we do things these days. The Military doesn't need as much proof as a civil court, so the lack of real evidence didn't stop the Court Martial from finding him guilty of something, and an example was going to be made. Once the chain of command decides you're getting it, you'll get it no matter what you try.

I've talked about Rob before here so I'll not beat it to death, but I hope that he lands on his feet. He's a good man with a family to support, and as sad as it is to say it, he may be better off out of an Army that considers ass-covering and political correctness to be more important than combat effectiveness. No news there unfortunately; I have bills to pay or I'd tell the CF where they can go when they'll dedicate these sort of resources to "making an example".

There are also some incredible travesties of justice toward American troops, in fact all Western countries vilify their own soldiers more than they'd ever think of doing to the enemy. Actual criminals, rapists, etc should be hanged from the highest tree, but guys doing what they're trained and tasked to do (fight bad guys) can't be worrying more about what the JAG will say than about what the opposition might do.

This began with a quote about where we are from Frederick II of Prussia (a.k.a "The Great), so I'll end it with one about where our troops need to be, although "the enemy" here is really the brass and the lawyers:

“Always presume that the enemy has dangerous designs and always be forehanded with the remedy. But do not let these calculations make you timid.”