Criticizing a General of the American military is an uncomfortable thing. Or at least it is for me. I’m aware that any general’s biography includes a level of service that mine doesn’t, and I’m also painfully aware that I lack the credibility to go toe-to-toe with a general in a debate on military matters. But when a General enters the marketplace of ideas, his ideas stand apart from his biography. I think we can maintain a respect for the uniform and the man even if we spiritedly object to a General’s opinions.
So, in discussing William Odom’s appearance on Hugh’s show last night, I’m going to bend over backwards to try be fair and respectful. And yet I still might be unable to come across that way. General Odom’s commentary last night was an embarrassment.
A FEW THINSG REALLY STUCK out from last night’s interview, the biggest of which was General Odom’s self-described expertise regarding Iran. Here are a couple of excerpts that come from different points in the interview:
HH: Are the statements of President Ahmadinejad alarming to you?
WO: No.
HH: Why not?
WO: Because I’ve done a study on Iranian foreign policy back from the fall of the Shah’s time up to about 1995…
And;
HH: Are you familiar with Mullah Yazdi?
WO: No.
HH: Or 12th Imam theology?
WO: No, I’m not.
What’s strange about these exchanges is that Odom fancies himself an expert on Iran but knows little (if anything) about the ruling class’ religious beliefs. This is significant; Iran is a theocracy where religious belief is law and dictates policy. And yet Odom seems to think that because he studied Iranian foreign policy for a 16 year window (ending over a decade ago) that his expertise and conclusions shouldn’t even be questioned. This is not just an obtuse conclusion, but a dangerously arrogant one.
Of course Ahmadenijad’s statements don’t alarm Odom. If Odom’s not familiar with the 12th Imam, it’s a safe surmise that he doesn’t know a blessed thing about the religious spirit that animates the Mullahocracy and has animated the Islamic Republic of Iran for the past three decades.
Ahmadenijad brings nothing new to the Iranian leadership in terms of his spiritual beliefs. Perhaps the General stumbled across the figure of Ayaotllah Khomeini while doing his study. If so, he would have discovered that religious insanity isn’t just a rhetorical matter for the Iranian government.
And then there was this little nugget that almost made me fall out of my barcalounger:
WO: And following…let me ask you. Are you enthusiastic enough to put on a uniform and go?
HH: No. I’m a civilian.
WO: Okay, but we can recruit you.
HH: I’m 51, General.
WO: And I don’t see all these war hawks that want to…none of them have been in a war, and they don’t want to go.
HH: Well, General, are you advocating that only uniformed military should have opinions on this?
WO: No, you can have an opinion, but if you…you can’t start telling me that you’re going to just pay no attention to what people like myself say.
HH: No, I am paying…that’s why you’re on this program.
WO: Okay.
Well I’m sure certain people loved the General’s ad hominem attack and relished the use of the chickenhawk trope by an actual man of the uniform, such an “argument” doesn’t bear evidence to a confident or nimble intellect. Rather than defend his ideas, Odom tried to bully his way into winning an argument.
Frankly, it’s somewhat disconcerting to see a high ranking member of our military respond to an intellectual difference in such a shoddy fashion. One wonders how comfortable General Odom’s staffers felt in voicing opinions that differed from the General’s. It’s also revealing that Odom felt that Hugh’s disagreement was necessarily tantamount to “paying no attention to what people like myself say.”
I’VE MADE NO SECRET THE LAST FEW MONTHS of my horror regarding how ill-informed many members of our leadership class are. Their intellectual sloppiness has been an ongoing surprise, and not a pleasant one. I’ve been pretty unsparing in relating my thoughts on this matter, and I’ve done so in a non-partisan manner.
So what follows is not offered lightly: General Odom’s interview last night represented a disappointing new low.
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