The Quarter-Billion Dollar War Games We Ignored

R.I.P., MR. PRESIDENT

President Ford was, by unanimous consent, a highly decent, fair-minded man. One more example:

“I think they [gays] ought to be treated equally. Period. I don’t see why they shouldn’t [get the same Social Security, tax and other federal benefits as married couples]. I think that’s a proper goal. … I have a longstanding record in favor of legislation to do away with discrimination.” – Former President Gerald R. Ford, in a 2001 interview with Detroit News columnist Deb Price.

JOINT CHIEFS CHAIR: Go ahead and tell.

Retired General Shalikashvili, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, writing in the New York Times:

Last year I held a number of meetings with gay soldiers and marines, including some with combat experience in Iraq, and an openly gay senior sailor who was serving effectively as a member of a nuclear submarine crew. These conversations showed me just how much the military has changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers. . . .

I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces. Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job. . . .

And speaking of the military:

IF ONLY WE HAD KNOWN THEN WHAT WE KNEW THEN

It seems we war-gamed Iraq way back in 2002 – and lost:

In July 2002 . . . at the cost of a quarter-billion dollars, the Pentagon launched the most elaborate war games in its history, immodestly entitled “Millennium Challenge 02.” These involved all four services in “17 simulation locations and nine live-force training sites.” Officially a war against a fictional country in the Persian Gulf region — but obviously Iraq — it was specifically scripted to prove the efficacy of the Rumsfeld-style invasion that the Bush administration had already decided to launch.

Click here for the sad account. (Thanks, Peter.)