Thursday, February 18, 2016

We’ve heard about the military forced in to retirement. Here’s one replacement - Gen. Nicholson

WFB:

Marine: New U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Threw Us Under the Bus

Then-Col. Nicholson called unit wrongfully accused of civilian killings a ‘stain on our honor’
A Marine wrongfully accused of killing civilians says that President Obama’s new Afghanistan war commander is unqualified to lead coalition forces.
In January President Obama tapped Army Lt. Gen. John Nicholson to lead the war in Afghanistan, as the administration confronted the possibility of a long-term troop presence in the country. Nicholson, an Army Ranger, sailed through Senate confirmation on Feb. 4.
The hasty confirmation disappointed retired Marine Major Fred Galvin.
“It is never good for a foot soldier when this guy is in charge,” Galvin told the Washington Free Beacon in a telephone interview from his Kansas home. “I don’t consider him a military leader. He’s a politician.”
Gen. Nicholson did not return requests for comment submitted through the Pentagon and NATO.
Galvin is not the only Marine tied to the incident who said that Nicholson is unfit for command.
Retired Col. Steve Morgan, who was on the three-member Court of Inquiry, said that Nicholson’s public statements made him skeptical of Galvin’s innocence at the start of the proceedings.“I thought the Marines screwed up. When I walked in the courtroom I generally agreed with Nicholson,” he said. “You’re thinking the Marines were running around like a bunch of loose damn fools … why would the commander make such a strong statement if he didn’t have substantive facts to back it up?”By the end of the proceedings, Morgan concluded that the facts backed up Galvin and called into question Nicholson’s integrity. Morgan pointed to testimony by Nicholson where he stated he could not recall the exact date of the video conference despite the fact that reporters wished him a happy 50th birthday on the call.“That’s a pretty big hallmark [birthday]. His testimony was self-serving and part of his testimony bordered on, not outright perjury, but a very large integrity gap,” Morgan said. “He’s a bad officer. All Fred wants to do is take care of his Marines. All Nicholson wants is his next promotion. He’s a threat to morale.”Galvin said that Nicholson should try to make amends by issuing a public apology along the lines of “the facts prove that these Marines are innocent and I said something that was prejudicial to the investigation.”“Congress and the president are relying on him to tell the truth about what’s going on in Afghanistan: knowing what he did to us, would you feel confident that he’s going to tell the truth?” Galvin said. “He made it look to the press that we perpetrated the My Lai Massacre. He has a chance now to stand up and be a leader and apologize.”
But that is apparently not the program Mr. Obama has in mind to promote, is it?
Apologies are what we give to other nations.

THE OPPOSITE OF DETERRENCE

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