What does the military think of the plan to bomb Syria? Not much, apparently.
Robert H. Scales, a retired Army major general and former commandant of the U.S. Army War College, took to the pages of The Washington Post Thursday to shred not just the strategy but the strategists. Basing his take on conversations with "personal exchanges with dozens of active and retired soldiers in recent days," Shales wrote, "I feel confident that what follows represents the overwhelming opinion of serving professionals who have been intimate witnesses to the unfolding events that will lead the United States into its next war."
That overwhelming opinion, he wrote, is that the U.S. is being pushed into war to make up for the president's loose talk about a "red line."
'[W]hat may happen is an act of war and a willingness to risk American lives to make up for a slip of the tongue about 'red lines.' These acts would be for retribution and to restore the reputation of a president," Scales wrote.
His fellows in the military "are embarrassed to be associated with the amateurism of the Obama administration’s attempts to craft a plan that makes strategic sense. None of the White House staff has any experience in war or understands it. So far, at least, this path to war violates every principle of war, including the element of surprise, achieving mass and having a clearly defined and obtainable objective."
The Senate will vote next week on a resolution to bomb Syria, followed by the House the week after, where support is thin.
Read the whole takedown here.
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