Letter: Our soft military can’t defend us against terrorists

Thursday, July 25, 2002 | 9:08 a.m.

I'm a civilian (Navy veteran) attendee of the Capstone exercise on July 20 that was described in a July 22 story in the Sun, "Nellis puts on show for top brass." I was informed by the exercise, but disturbed by several things.

Apparently the primary purpose of the exercise was a show for "40 newly promoted generals and admirals." It worries me that this show is considered experience for these officers instead of a tour, say, in Afghanistan.

Our military is overpopulated with officers. If promoted during the Clinton years we know they are primarily politicians, not warriors. At least half of them should be fired. The war in Afghanistan has bogged down, we have not caught Osama bin Laden, and So Damn Insane is still in charge in Iraq. Why is this? Because the perfumed princes are incompetent and mainly do politics, but play at war, as in Capstone.

At Capstone, civilians were bused from a parking area about one mile away from the demonstration. Perfumed princes were allowed to drive their cars up to the grandstand. Civilians sat in bleachers. The princes sat their tender butts in padded chairs in a special section. At the end, the princes drove rapidly away in their cars while civilians queued up along with Air Force lower rank persons for too few buses while standing in the heat for 30 to 60 minutes.

Whoever was in charge of this expenditure of millions of taxpayer dollars should have let the civilians board the buses first. After all, these are taxpayers. Air Force personnel, already on the payroll, and just killing time, should have gone last.

If our fat, dumb, lazy, political, bloated, bureaucratic military can't figure out a simple thing like this, how can they defeat lean, smart, disciplined and determined terrorists?

FRED CHARETTE