I’ve not been able to find out much about BG Karpinski. There is no official biography out there in cyberspace like there is for many other general officers. Her appearances on television have been public-relations ploys disguised as interviews. This morning I checked to see what David Hackworth had to say on WorldNetDaily. He is not a Rumsfeld fan, but he wasn’t as vicious as others have been. He and Soldiers for the Truth VP Roger Charles have concluded:
The evidence clearly shows that the Department of the Army mafia was more concerned about protecting the image of the brigade commanding general, Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, than holding her and her officers accountable for the terrible situation, which they allowed to fester for months.
I wonder why they would protect her. I haven’t been impressed with her at all, so I still must wonder if this is an issue of being afraid to fire her because she is female.
I can’t imagine Rumsfeld thinking that way, but I’m not completely sure the military is yet beyond that fear. They’ve taken collective beatings on this issue for years.
Come on Pop. You were in the military long enough to know the politics behind all of this. On the other hand, the only thing she really did wrong was loose control of her unit. That is if she at once “had” control of her unit. By the way her soldiers were treating the EPW’s (POW’s as everyone else knows them as) she may have never had total control of her unit. All of you old timers know how this thing works, I am just going to explain it to everyone else. Those soldiers “first line supervisors” probably knew or were part of if, they did nothing. Senior level leadership most likely knew nothing about it, which brings up the point of “weak leadership” as we call it. That unit’s senior NCO’s and Field Grade officers most likely knew nothing about what was going on, due to there own incompetence, and should all be relieved of there duties.
Comment by birdie — May 11, 2004 @ 8:54 am
There was an SFC involved in it all. Things like this don’t stay quiet in an organization.
Comment by Bunker — May 11, 2004 @ 1:20 pm