Army captains who penned Washington Post OP/Ed have been ridiculed for their candor.
The officers’ words have stirred controversy, with some critics calling them traitors. But that hasn’t stopped them from speaking out.
In the op-ed piece, published on the fifth anniversary of the authorization of military force in Iraq, the 12 captains wrote that they had “seen the corruption and the sectarian division.”
“We understand what it’s like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it’s time to get out,” they said.
“Captain is a unique position in the Army because you are really a cog at the center of it all,” said Jason Blindauer, a veteran of five years in the Army, including three deployments to Iraq. “As we used to say, you can see the asses of the generals and the faces of the privates.”
But a $35,000 retention bonus could not keep these captains in, even though at the outset they had been deeply committed to the military.
All these captains have expressed their frustrations with how their leaders has conducted this war and the unnecessary losses as a result of poor judgment though they spread blame amongst the Iraqi leadership as well.
“What has the government of Iraq done? It has done nothing, so it doesn’t matter how many tactical successes you have if you’re not having any strategic successes.”
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