"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." ~ Unknown
My most favorite hero from American history is President Abraham Lincoln. I have read, and treasure, Stephen Sears noted biography of Lincoln as well as Gore Vidal's fictional novel of his administration during the Civil War. Whenever I visit Washington, D.C., which is far and in between, I make it a point to stop by his memorial to pay my respects. Other than the Viet Nam memorial, Lincoln's is the most solemn of memorials to our fallen and our great leaders. To say that I admire the 'Rail Splitter' would have to be called an understatement.
It is with abject irony that I write about Lincoln today as I read through the news clippings of the day. Other than perhaps for George W. Bush, no other President has ever faced the challenges that Lincoln has faced. He came into office in 1861 the President elect of a divided nation on the brink of war. The United States of America was united more in name than it was in actuality. We Americans were divided by geography, cultural, ideological and political boundaries. We were the North and the South. What we call an American today did not exist.
In April, insurgent Confederate forces opened fire upon the Federal garrison at Ft Sumter, SC initiating the bloodiest war in American history. 620,000 men died in combat far surpassing the number of dead in all of America's wars together. As President, Lincoln did what was considered then to be the most ill advised and today is the most daring decision ever made by a President. He ordered the Federal Army to march south into Confederate territory and to defeat the rebel army. Lincoln was President of the entire United States, not just a part of it, and he was not going to allow a section of the country to dissolve the Union Lincoln swore to protect without a fight.
I see many similarities between Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush.
For the first few years, Lincoln, like Bush, had a serious problem with his generals. For all their braggart ways and beefed up military records, not one of his generals was able to lead the Union Army to victory over the Confederate. Lincoln went through several generals starting with Irwin McDowell, to Burnside, McClellan (twice), Hooker and George Meade before finally settling upon a young western general who seemed to succeed at bringing the fight to the Confederacy and in winning his battles. Who was this upstart general?
Ulysses S. Grant.
As I look at the paper today, I am shocked to find an article describing dissent being spread against our nation's commander in chief by a triumvirate of former U.S. Army generals: Wesley Clark, Paul Eaton and John Batiste. Not since McClellan was a general has a soldier so openly defied the President of the United States. This trio of has beens is calling for American troops to put their tail between their legs and to come home in defeat. They are doing the unthinkable; they are asking American soldiers to surrender their positions to the enemy and to come home in disgrace.
The current general in charge of American forces in Iraq is Gen. David Petraeus who is charged with halting the growing insurgency in Iraq. Like Meade who was tasked to stop the advance of Gen. Robert E. Lee into Pennsylvania, Gen. Petraeus has been given a hard task to undertake. A good man, I believe that Gen. Petraeus only has the best interests of American soldiers at heart and that he wants a victory in Iraq like everyone else does. Unfortunately, I do not think that our good general is aggressive enough.
Today's officers tend to be more boardroom educated than they are battlefield tested. Too many are content to lead from the safety of their desks or behind enemy lines than they are to lead from the front as their Civil War counterparts did. Today's military officers are more concerned about their futures in the corporate world than they are about winning the war.
This is why we need a modern day, Ulysses S. Grant.
Grant was not a popular general and many in both his administration and Lincoln's political opponents disagreed with Lincoln's choice of Grant to lead the Federal Army. Lincoln once sighed in frustration over the many rumors spoken about Grant by saying, "I cannot relieve this man; he fights!"
The war in Iraq is a different war. We need someone who is both bold and aggressive. We need a general who even when faced with a defeat can rally his troops to still strike back at the enemy again and again until our foes cry a proverbial "uncle".
We don't need green zones or defensive perimeters; we need to go on the hunt. We need to stop being turtles living in the comfort of our own box and start becoming predators looking for the kill.
We don't need any more complacent generals. No more George B. McClellans or George Meades. We need tigers ... We need another Grant to snare victory from the jaws of defeat.
Our modern day Ulysses is out there somewhere. I hope he is reading this for it is now time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.
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