“Well, considering Obama made DoD Sec. Gates and Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mullen swear loyalty to HIM in the White House last year” ????????
Yeah, I’d like to see a citation on this, too. I couldn’t find one, other than somebody who was making a comment on anther site.
There are enough problems with this administration that we shouldn’t be making up new ones, so PROVE YOUR STATEMENT!
See last line of this excerpt...
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/15/secrets-from-inside-the-obama-war-room.html
“This was a cold and bracing meeting,” said an official in the room. Lyndon Johnson had never talked to Gen. William Westmoreland that way, or George H.W. Bush to Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf. Presidents Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton had all been played by the Pentagon at various points but hadn’t fought back as directly. Now Obama was sending an unmistakable message: don’t toy with me. Just because he was young, new, a Democrat, and had never been in uniform didn’t mean he was going to get backed into a corner.
Mullen described himself as “chagrined” after the meeting. He had always felt strongly about the importance of civilian control of the military, and in 2008 had delivered a message to the armed forces reminding all service personnel to stay out of politics. Now he and Gates pledged support and told the president that the conduct would change, and it did. On Oct. 5, Gates said in a speech to the Association of the United States Army that it was “imperative” that generals provide their advice “candidly but privately.” (He felt the White House was just as guilty of damaging leaks as the Pentagon, and he hoped his message of discretion was heard there, too.) Mullen and Joint Chiefs vice chairman Gen. James Cartwright stopped selling the McChrystal plan and told Petraeus and McChrystal to stop talking publicly until the policy deliberations were resolved. “They swore loyalty,” said one senior civilian official. “And we chose to believe them.”
P.S. It’s really nice to know that because YOU couldn’t find this, it must mean I am ‘making up new ones.’
Get over yourself.