The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright–
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went unarmed into his first meeting with the new commander in chief — no aides, no PowerPoint presentation, no briefing books. Summoned nine days ago to President-elect Barack Obama’s Chicago transition office, Mullen showed up with just a pad, a pen and a desire to take the measure of his incoming boss.
There was little talk of exiting Iraq or beefing up the U.S. force in Afghanistan; the one-on-one, 45-minute conversation ranged from the personal to the philosophical. Mullen came away with what he wanted: a view of the next president as a non-ideological pragmatist who was willing to both listen and lead…
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done–
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!”
Military leaders have all heard his pledge to withdraw most combat forces from Iraq within 16 months — sooner than commanders on the ground have recommended — and his implied criticism of the Afghanistan war effort during the Bush administration.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
“If this were only cleared away,”
They said, “it would be grand!”
These sources noted that Obama himself has said he would not be “careless” about withdrawal and would retain a “residual” force of unspecified size to fight terrorists and protect U.S. diplomats and civilians. The officer most concerned about untimely withdrawal, sources said, is the Iraq commander, Gen. Ray Odierno.
Even as the Iraq war continues, defense officials are far more worried about Afghanistan, where they see policy drift and an unfocused mission. With strategy reviews now being completed at the White House and by the chairman’s office, an internal Pentagon debate is well underway over whether goals should be lowered.
“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
Of cabbages–and kings–
And why the sea is boiling hot–
And whether pigs have wings…
Bush’s ideological objective of a modern Afghan democracy, several officials said, is unattainable with current U.S. resources, and there is optimism that Obama will have a more realistic view…
“A loaf of bread,” the Walrus said,
“Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed–
Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.”
The president-elect’s invitation to Mullen, whom Obama previously had met only in passing on Capitol Hill and whose first two-year term as chairman does not expire until the end of September, was seen as an attempt to establish a relationship and avoid early conflict.
“But not on us!” the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
“After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!”
“The night is fine,” the Walrus said.
“Do you admire the view?
One of the biggest long-term military issues on Obama’s plate will be the defense budget, currently topping 4.3 percent of gross domestic product once war expenditures are included.
“I weep for you,” the Walrus said:
“I deeply sympathize.”
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
Obama has said he will increase the size of the Army and the Marine Corps, finding savings in the Iraq drawdown and in new scrutiny of spending, including on contractors, weapons programs and missile defense.
“O Oysters,” said the Carpenter,
“You’ve had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?’
But answer came there none–
And this was scarcely odd, because
They’d eaten every one.
(*I’d apologize to Lewis Carroll, except, you know: He’s beastly dead.)
A one-on-one conversation, huh? And yet the details are all over the Washington Post. How interesting…
Must’ve been Mullen that leaked, huh? /sarcasm
And of course, the military thinks it’s over-funded and is welcoming “fiscal discipline.”
Through the looking glass, indeed.
Great – we get the missile defense working and they’re going to defund it?
Mr.Dodgson must be rolling over in his grave right about now. I’m sure the old pedophile never intended for the Walrus and the Carpenter to be adapted in such ways!
Best use of that guys tripe I’ve ever seen, save for Disney making a fortune out of his works.
Well struck, Lex.
Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said ‘one ca’n't believe impossible things.’
‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast…’
–Lewis Carroll “Through the Looking Glass”
Plenty of impossible things to believe in from The One.
Hope his alleged pragmitism allows him to distinguish between real world realities, and political campaign doublespeak.
Extra credit to CJCS for entering the lion’s den solo, removing doubts about who might be leaking, although I believe none of what The One and his sycophants say, and little of what they do.
Standby for heavy rolls.
This is the 21st Century–far,far more than six impossible things today in Obama-world.
Lex, as I read this, I kept thinking about the “Official Translation of the SOFA”. It can be found through a link at “Mudville Gazette”. It is well worth the time. I still have my reservations about the whole screwed up situation, to be honest. This is true in both the long and short view. The problem is NOT, what does it say? In my view, the problem is, what can it be CONSTRUED to say? There’s a big difference.
“… the defense budget, currently topping 4.3 percent of gross domestic product …”
Which is historically low.
Afghan will be Obama’s Iraq. No guarantee our efforts there will finally resemble how the Bush administration is leaving Iraq.
4.3 percent…and in the middle of two major campaigns, no less.
In other words, well short of requirements.
Ah, Lex, Lex.
I admire and respect your obvious appreciation for epistolary artistry — first the clever adaptation of a Goffin/King song title for a post, and now your interweaving of an article about foreign policy with verses of arguably the most delightful piece of writing by the great and wonderful Lewis Carroll (as a writer; as a person, not so much) to make a political point that you never have to overtly state. That is part of what’s so clever and creative about it.
I do not agree one bit with that political point you never overtly state. But I have to admit I admire the stylish way you have expressed it.
Why thanga, thanga ver much /elvis
Costello or Presley?
There may be fewer, but they will be greater:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjM0ZWUwZTdmYTNjMmJkZDA5OGE3NmJiZTg4NjgyM2E=
Dang — you ARE deft with the pen.
Didja usta write FITREPS in this way too? If so, I wonder whether it helped or hampered promotional opportunities.
deMontjoie- intersting point. I bet that Lex’s FITREP writing got the message through to the board, while the reportee basked in the glow of their seeming brilliance, unaware that they were doomed. It would be good to see some of those some time, (names redacted of course to protect the good, but not good enough) along with some sea stories about their meager accomplishments.
Writing FITREPS for the top 10% and bottom 10% was kind of easy and fun, the real chore was fine tuning the clues for those in the “pack.”
Don’t know how the Navy does it these days, but the OERs (Officer Effectiveness Rpt) we had in the AF were designed such that the numbers were primary–the word picture strickly secondary. If you had the numbers, even a less than stellar word picture didn’t mean a thing until you were being compared with those with similar number scores, i.e., a glowing word picture wouldn’t save you if the numbers weren’t there.
Virgil Xen, we also gots that “Board” thingy for our Chiefs (E-8) Senior Chiefs (E-8), and Master Chiefs (E-9). Nothing like a peer-review to skew the numbers up, mostly they (the numbers) only serve to sort out the wheat from the chaff. Takes the time tested discerning eye of a salt crusted Master Chief to see the sublte shifts of the tell-tales on the sail to determine who shall pass on to the next “life”. Oh, and then he/she had better be a damn good poker player to sell it to the whole board of aforementioned salt crusted Master Chiefs. So while the flowery verbage has its uses, there is so much more to it than that AND the numbers to make the grade. But, I’m sure strictly looking a the numbers has its advantages…
And then, there’s the Guard — where superb numbers and both immediate and senior raters’ comments of “Promote Immediately” don’t mean squat if, at the previous year’s Annual Conference, your wife happened to be wearing a gown identical to the one worn by the wife of the Adjutant General…
Ah, Bill, now the CW4 makes sense…
Nice thing about the new Navy fitrep/eval thing is that it does the board’s work for them. We went from everybody is a 4.0 sailor and the write-up distinguished the wheat from the chaff to one that forces the whole command to rank every sailor against his/her peers and truly demonstrate in writing who really are the top 5% and the top 10% in any given peer group.
As much as I dislike the new system it used to really bother me that I had subordinates who failed to screen for E-7 or E-8 because their evals looked like they’d been written by 12 year olds complete with misspelling, poor word usage and insane punctuation.
Back in the old day I used to invite the young gentlemen into my office and show them their eval/fitrep and tell them that I could only write really really good ones or really really bad ones. I had no idea how to write mediocre.
Funded OK, spent to death. Every year the defense budget is filled with PORK added not by the military but by Congress that are buying votes at home. Remember the BRACs, how many times did Congress vote to keep bases that the Pentagon ask to close. Sorry the dem’s have pork barreled their way to the majority.