Many of you are familiar with Andrew J. Bacevich, the international relations prof at BU. Bacevich is a retired Army Colonel, a military policy intellectual and, by most standards of place and time, a conservative. But he’s also become a powerful critic of what in his most recent book he calls ‘the new American militarism’, a book I strongly recommend. And he’s been a consistent and powerful opponent of the Iraq war from start to finish — or whatever point we’re at now.
This afternoon a friend who works in the military budgeting world forwarded me an email from the DOD. It began …
NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense
No. 582-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2007
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
1st Lt. Andrew J. Bacevich, 27, of Walpole, Mass., died May 13 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat patrol operations in Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq.He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
I don’t think I knew whether Bacevich had a son. But he comes from that class of career military where professional military service is often an intergenerational endeavor. Age sounds about right. And I just had a hard time seeing how many Andrew J. Baceviches there would be in Massachusetts.
But no more wondering. It’s his son. I can only imagine the special agony reserved for a professional military man to lose a child in a war he has now spent years arguing was a mistake.
You remember that famous passage in Henry V: Act IV, scene one where Bates tells the disguised King Henry that if the King’s “cause be wrong, our obedience to the King wipes the crime of it out of us.”
There’s a shameless game of moral chicken that war supporters play in which they dare opponents to say the war is a mistake because, they claim, saying so would then dishonor all the men and women who’ve already died in its cause. So to spare the dead that ignominy, kill many more of our children. All to avoid swallowing that bitter pill. But I think there’s a converse to Bates’ argument that I agree with, though I disagree with his claim about the moral reckoning. And that is that the service and the sacrifice wash the death clean of the folly of the leaders who ordered them into the battle.
And of course this drama gets played out … what, two, three times a day? Often more. Each time no less shattering for the family involved.
Steve Clemons has more on Bacevich Sr.
Today’s Must Read: Behold, citizens of the United States — the Bush administration’s commitment to oversight and the protection of your civil liberties in all its glory.
Silly question: Under present leadership, does the Department of Justice have any standing to indict anyone for perjury or obstruction?
A new poll finds that Congress’ approval rating has now sunk below that of Bush.
That and lots more news of the day in our Election Central Morning Roundup.
John Edwards challenges Hillary and Obama to vote for Feingold amendment to defund war.
Ahhhh, running the World Bank like Tony Soprano. It might even be a show I’d like to watch.
The Guardian reports that as the details of Paul Wolfowitz’s deal to give a hefty pay package to girlfriend, Shaha Riza, were threatening to be revealed, Wolfowitz threatened senior World Bank staffers that they’d pay if the deal was revealed publicly. “If they f-ck with me or Shaha,” raged Wolfowitz, according to the internal report on Wolfowitz’s conduct, “I have enough on them to f-ck them too.”
Late Update: Find more fun nuggets. The report is available here at the World Bank website.
More dramatic tales from this morning’s Comey testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Here we learn from Comey of Alberto Gonzales’ and Andrew Card’s nighttime rush to John Ashcroft’s bedside at the Intensive Care Unit to find someone to sign off on what appears to have been their illegal warrantless wiretap program. Comey, who was then acting AG, refused. So there was a rush to get to the hospital before Gonzales and Card to prevent them from coaxing the semi-conscious Ashcroft from signing on the dotted line. High drama, threatened resignations and incapacitated cabinet secretaries are all in the mix as Gonzales tries to overturn the rule of law. You’ll want to see this.
New York Times sticks with “Dems are the Mommy Party” narrative despite multiple polls showing the phrase to be out of touch with current realities.
Falwell found unconscious, in “gravely serious” condition.
Tony Snow on Comey testimony describing nighttime Gonzales/Card visit to hospital to get sign off on illegal wiretap program from half-conscious John Ashcroft: Comey’s got “splashy testimony. Good for him.”