Holy ****: This statement from McMaster's former deputy

[Recursion]

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/16/mcmasters-former-deputy-in-iraq-an-officer-must-not-just-stand-by-while-a-lie-is-being-promulgated/

The byline of the entire piece is Thomas Ricks, but the quoted segment is from Paul Yingling, McMaster's last deputy in Iraq:

Tom,

I haven’t anything to say to you regarding HR. He is my friend and my advice to friends is private. However, I would like to clarify a point regarding the honor code of the officer corps.

An officer may not tolerate a lie.

It is not enough that everything an officer says is true. This standard is too low; it allows an officer to omit facts that are relevant to the matter at hand.

It is not enough that everything an officer says is true and complete. This standard is too low; it allows an officer to remain silent while others lie.

An officer may not tolerate a lie. This standard requires not only that everything an officer says is true and complete, but also that an officer must correct anyone who lies in his or her presence. An officer can never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.

A minor example illustrates this point. Prior to my retirement, my chain of command insisted that I have a public retirement ceremony. Such a ceremony would include the public reading of an award citation stating that the secretary of the Army valued my service. I informed my chain of command that if they read such a statement in my presence, I would be obliged to correct the record. They cancelled the ceremony.

You are welcome to use this statement in its entirety, attributable to me by name.

An officer may not tolerate a lie.

Regards,
Paul

[furtheradu]

1. "an officer may not tolerate a lie".

THAT, my Friends, is a Patriot.THAT is ETHICS.. MORALITY. Simple, yet profound.

THAT is what I expect of mySelf, my Family & Friends, any one in my life.. & our Nation's leaders.
I usually say "no tolerance for bs".

Thanks for this post!

[iluvtennis]

17. +++ agree

[dalton99a]

2. Kick.

[Solly Mack]

3. After 20 plus years around military officers, I assure everyone - officers tolerate lies quite well.

[Lucky Luciano]

5. Nice sentiment in the post, but I'm sure you are correct. nt

[Solly Mack]

7. I knew one Major who frowned on lies but he also listened to Art Bell

and thought his mission in life was to save the Middle East (for Jesus).

So...

[grantcart]

14. but he didn't lie

[Solly Mack]

15. Not to his thinking. But that tends to be the case.

[Duppers]

11. Yep. nt

[Recursion]

12. Yingling knows that too; this was a message (nt)

[Solly Mack]

13. True. It was a message.

[bdjhawk]

4. 1. True patriots should not tolerate lies either, GOP Senators and Reps!

2. What was the lie in the award citation? That the Sec of the Army really didn't value his service? What is the story behind this? Is this a jab at an Obama appointed Sec of the Army? Looks like he retired in 2012.

Regardless, I appreciate the absolute clarity he provides regarding the standards an officer should meet.

[world wide wally]

6. That would sound like a foreign language to Trump

[Aviation Pro]

8. The full quote....

....emblazoned on the first day of OCS and one of my guiding principles for the past 34 years:

"An officer will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those that do."

[Honeycombe8]

9. LOL. Good. nt

[airmid]

10. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[ProudLib72]

16. Look, it worked for Bush with Powell

It works for tRump with McMaster. Maybe they don't like it, but there is a chain of command that ends with the president. They suck it up and tell those lies anyway.

[Jakes Progress]

18. A soldier I can thank for his service.

Any officer supporting the current leaker in chief is not honorable enough to receive my thanks.

[SCVDem]

19. Winnebagos of death?

Anthrax, WMDs, babies ripped from incubators, USS Liberty, Gulf of Tonkin and even the release of the Iranian hostages. etc, etc.

All they do is lie and the morons buy.

We are really a stupid country!

[herding cats]

20. It would appear he thinks McMaster should make amends.

There's some truth there he wants out in the open quite seriously.