‘The rest of the story’ on Bacevich
To the editor:
As a known online critic of Dr. Bryjak's stories, I became concerned over Ms. VanderSnow's letter praising his last commentary. I only hope that Ms. VanderSnow was hoodwinked by his comments.
There are several details Mr. Bryjak failed to mention about Col. Bacevich USA (Ret.) that are more than pertinent. Please do not judge this letter before you read it through.
As the great American Paul Harvey says, "And now for the rest of the story."
Bacevich graduated from West Point in 1969 and served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, serving in Vietnam from the summer of 1970 to the summer of 1971. Afterwards he held posts in Germany, including the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the United States and the Persian Gulf up to his retirement from the service with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the early 1990s. He holds a Ph.D. in American diplomatic history from Princeton University and taught at West Point and Johns Hopkins University prior to joining the faculty at Boston University in 1998.
On May 13, 2007, Bacevich's son, also named Andrew J. Bacevich, was killed in action in Iraq by a suicide bomber south of Samarra in Salah Ad Din Province. The younger Bacevich, 27, was a first lieutenant. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division.
The grief he then felt linked him to others, including Cindy Sheehan. This was first referenced by Gary Leupp, writing for the Dhafir Trial. Quote: "Professor Bacevich, now sharing Sheehan's personal grief, calls his earlier hopes that he and others might force the country to change course 'an illusion,' noting that 'responsibility for the war's continuation now rests no less with the Democrats who control Congress than with the president and his party.' Money," he notes bitterly, "maintains the Republican/Democratic duopoly of trivialized politics. It confines the debate over U.S. policy to well-hewn channels. It negates democracy, rendering free speech little more than a means of recording dissent. This is not some great conspiracy. It's the way our system works."
Another quote from Col. Bacevich is from an article of the The American Conservative, dated March 24, 2008. Bacevich depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as the best choice for conservatives in the fall. Part of his argument includes the fact that "this liberal Democrat has promised to end the U.S. combat role in Iraq. Contained within that promise, if fulfilled, lies some modest prospect of a conservative revival." He also goes on to mention that "for conservatives to hope the election of yet another Republican will set things right is surely in vain. To believe that President John McCain will reduce the scope and intrusiveness of federal authority, cut the imperial presidency down to size, and put the government on a pay-as-you-go basis is to succumb to a great delusion."
Now knowing the "rest of the story," are the two aforementioned writers going to take Col. Bacevich's advice and vote for McCain?
T.J. Dillon
Saranac Lake
