Richard J. Piper – 1/10/07

This page was last updated on January 11, 2007.

Military has failed America; Richard J. Piper; Beaver County Times; January 10, 2007.

I could be wrong, but I believe Mr. Piper is Director of Aviation at CCBC’s Aviation Sciences Center.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“Maybe we should just close West Point.

“And board up the Pentagon.

“What we are experiencing in Iraq today is a massive failure of our military leadership at just about every level.

“How can we defeat a standing army in a matter of weeks and yet allow armed militias to roam the country at will? How can we allow the daily failure of our strategic and tactical approach to IEDs? How can we fail to run a military prison in a humane manner? How can we allow young men to be put in a position where there is no leadership to guide them, resulting in rape and murder?

[RWC] “[A]llow armed militias to roam the country at will?” According to a recent news report, over 80% of the violence is in Baghdad. I’m not claiming the rest of Iraq is peaceful, but the idea the whole country is in chaos is wrong.

“[F]ailure of our strategic and tactical approach to IEDs?” IEDs are still a problem and always will be. They’ve existed since the first time explosives were used in war.

Mr. Piper’s final two comments expose him. He treats isolated incidents as if they were standard operating procedure.

“We spend billions each year to build the biggest, safest aircraft carrier, the most advanced submarine and the world’s greatest fighter plane, yet we can’t find a way to protect our foot soldiers with the most basic armor requirements, both personal and vehicular.”

[RWC] Our military does have armor, “both personal and vehicular.” Armor doesn’t make a soldier invulnerable, however. Even armored vehicles like tanks aren’t impervious to attack.

“President Bush listened to his military leaders, and they have been wrong most of the time. The General Staff is allowing the flower of our youth to be crushed in Iraq by people who have been killing each other for thousands of years.”

[RWC] “[T]hey have been wrong most of the time?” Unless Mr. Piper knows every decision they made, how can he make this comment? Apparently Mr. Piper hasn’t considered the possibility that some decisions were driven by diplomatic considerations and/or politics both here and in Iraq.

“The first Gulf War was characterized by strong military leaders using overwhelming force to defeat the enemy. Today, it looks like we are the dog being wagged by the tail. It looks like we are trying to do too much with too little.”

[RWC] I guess Mr. Piper hasn’t noticed the battlefields are different.

“I’m not sure sending a few more troops is the answer. What we might consider is the use of our full military might to disarm every Iraqi with a rifle, grenade or bomb.

“Until we do, we are just bleeding young soldiers.

“Yep, I’d close both the Military Academy and the Pentagon. They have failed this country’s armed forces and its citizens.”

[RWC] What about the Air Force and Naval academies? What about the Army War College? What about the ROTC programs at the remainder of our colleges? Shouldn’t we close them all?