Army CoS has “no reason to doubt” Obama’s soldier story

What does it mean?
And when will thewingnuts apologize?

The Army Chief of Staff says that he has “no reason to doubt” Barack Obama’s account of an Army captain’s complaint about being sent to Afghanistan with his unit undermanned and underequipped. Remember, this was the story all the wingnuts landed on as evidence of Obama’s ignorance of military matters and of his mendacity, and the story the Pentagon press geek publicly cast doubt on.

That could mean any or all of the following:

1. That the story as told to, and relayed by, Obama was substantially correct;

2. That Gen. Casey remembers that his oath was to support the Constitution, not the incumbent President, and doesn’t want to meddle in partisan politics;

3. That the brass is tired of the Republican clown show;

4. That the brass thinks Obama is going to win and has decided not to jerk him around too much.

At minimum it means that the story must have been plausible as told. That ought to lead to a chorus of apologies from the wingnutosphere. But it won’t.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com