Who needs a State Dept or a Directorate of National Intelligence, anyway, when the Pentagon is taking over more and more of those functions?
It's a great article with many angles. Tom Englehardt notes that leaking is OK, if you're a general trying to do an end run around civilians, including the Preznit, who will only intercede when the loss of face is overwhelming.
Tom also notes that Sec Def Gates, along with generals such as Petraeus and Odierno, will sometimes go straight to the teevee to try to work around the civilians, as in trying to keep troops in Iraq or Afghanistan past Obama's stated deadline. And I love that he labels Petraeus as the Teflon general.
No wonder Gates wants to continue deficit-inflating budgets, no matter his reputation as a trimmer.
That said, Bush started this by not having Rummy ride tighter herd on the generals, but, by making Afghanistan his own war, and other things, Obama has been not just an enabler, but an abetter of the brass hats expanding their powers at the expense of civilians, at least at the expense of the civilian at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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