WaPo: “The story of every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine is unique, just as the story of every civilian American is unique. But there is a crucial difference. When men and women enlist in the U.S. military, they voluntarily put themselves under the authority of everyone in their chain of command. They depend on that chain of command for their lives.
At every level, those below depend on the competence of those above. The nation’s political leaders, admittedly, might not have always selected the best generals and admirals to put at the top. But until now, never in my memory have those down in the ranks been given reason to believe that the political leadership is intentionally fouling up the chain of command by ensuring the best people are kept out of the top jobs. Or, rather, that a solitary individual on Capitol Hill is doing this to the U.S. military.
That person is Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). He has frozen hundreds of nominations and promotions of senior military leaders to express his unhappiness over Defense Department abortion policies.
Tuberville should immediately stop holding the military chain of command hostage. That was also the message delivered by retired Adm. James Stavridis in a radio interview with me on Monday. Stavridis noted that Tuberville is famed in Alabama for running the Auburn University football program, “but this is not a game.””