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2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: You know what's WORSE than mass murder? [View all]Octafish
(55,745 posts)36. Remember Col. Westhusing
Lt. Col. Ted Westhusing, US Army was in charge of training the New Iraqi Army and overseeing civilian contractors. He had served as an instructor at West Point, where he was known as the "Army's highest ranking ethicist." He is remembered as a good man, a brilliant man who followed the Cadet Code: "I will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.
He had expressed doubts about his mission and worries about his safety. Then, he became the victim of a gunshot -- a "suicide."
Col. Westhusing was the Army's chief ethicist and someone who suspected something was wrong with David Petraeus, way back when. Then, just when he was about to come home to his loving wife and family, he became a suicide.
Is David Petraeus Dirty? Ted Westheusing Said So, and Then He Shot Himself
By Melina Hussein Ripcoco, Brilliant at Breakfast
Alternet.org
April 8, 2008
Ted Westhusing, was a champion basketball player at Jenks High School in Tulsa Oklahoma. A driven kid with a strong work ethic, he would show up at the gym at 7AM to throw 100 practice shots before school. He was driven academically too, becoming a National Merritt Scholarship finalist. His career through West Point and straight into overseas service was sterling, and by 2000 he had enrolled in Emory University to earn his doctorate in Philosophy. His dissertation was on honor and the ethics of war, with the opening containing the following passage: "Born to be a warrior, I desire these answers not just for philosophical reasons, but for self-knowledge." Would that all military commanders took such an interest in the study of ethics and morality and what our conduct in times of war says about our development as human beings. Would that any educational system in this country taught ethics, decision making, or even political science that's not part of an advanced degree anymore.
Ted Westhusing, the soldier, philosopher and ethicist, was given a guaranteed lifetime teaching position and West Point by the time he had finished with his service and his education. he felt like he could do more for his country by trying to shape the minds coming out of the academy that were the ones that would be military commanders. He had settled into that life with his wife and kids, when in 2004 he volunteered for active duty in Iraq, feeling like the experience would help his teaching. He had missed combat in his active duty and it seemed like an important piece for someone who not only philosophized about war, but who was also preparing the military's future leaders.
But more than that, he was sure that the Iraq mission was a just one; he supported the cause and he bought the information that was put in front of him. Considering that vials of powder were being tossed around hearings by the highest level of military commanders how could he not? This was a man who was so steeped in the patriotism of idealistic military fervor that he barely could fit in regular society. His whole being was dedicated to this path, and he was proud to serve his country.
Once in Iraq, he found himself straddling the fence between a questioning philosopher and an unquestioning soldier. Westhusing had thought he was freeing a country in bondage, keeping America safe from a horrible threat, and spreading democracy to a grateful people. But the reality of what was happening in this out of control war was too much for him. His mission was to oversee one of the most important tasks left from the war; retraining the Iraqi military by overseeing the private contractors that had been put in charge of it.
As the assignment went on he found that everywhere he looked he was seeing corrupt contractors doing shoddy work, abusing people, and stealing from the government. These contractors were being paid to do many of the jobs that would normally be done by a regulated military, and they bore out the worst fears of those who don't believe in outsourcing such vital work. He responded to the corruption that he saw by reporting the problems up the line, but the response from his commanding officers was disappointing. He had, for much of his career, idolized military commanders, and in that assignment he found himself with some of the military's most famous faces, doing the most important job, but he was terribly disappointed and alarmed to realize that they were greedy and corrupt themselves.
CONTINUED...
http://www.alternet.org/story/81678/is_david_petraeus_dirty_ted_westhusing_said_so,_and_then_he_shot_himself
COMPLETE ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.ripcoco.com/2008/04/is-david-petraeus-dirty-ted-westheusing.html
Gee. What kind of person would make money off war?
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Yes, we know because she is perfect as we all well know and has never done wrong.
LiberalArkie
Jun 2016
#7
Which makes her subsequent actions as a Secretary of State all the more questionable.
Octafish
Jun 2016
#89
gotta love that bernie guy voting to pay for all this killing every year, year after year nt
msongs
Jun 2016
#3
What grief process is that? I am continuing to work on getting progressives elected
Live and Learn
Jun 2016
#160
and Sanders voted to keep the troops in Afghanistan also. However, it isn't as vile as this OP who
still_one
Jun 2016
#103
From my point of view, you are wrong. Now, immediately, is the time to politicize this
floppyboo
Jun 2016
#179
Right now the Democrats don't have the majority in both house of Congress, so I
still_one
Jun 2016
#192
with a bill you need Congress. The question is could he do an executive action?
still_one
Jun 2016
#190
War is mass murder on an epic scale. At least one candidate apparently doesn't get that. nt
Live and Learn
Jun 2016
#4
You mean the onew that haven't been used. Betting Hillary will find a way to use them. nt
Live and Learn
Jun 2016
#10
Oh so its ok to build weapons of mass destruction and still remain holy as long as you don't
workinclasszero
Jun 2016
#15
Are you saying Hillary wouldn't want these? These were being built with or without Bernie,
Live and Learn
Jun 2016
#19
I can't find it now. I thought back when Charlie Hebdo suspect said Abu Ghraib made him attack.
Octafish
Jun 2016
#214
Bernie said he would continue to use drones. Just that he would do it better. i bet Obama felt the
bettyellen
Jun 2016
#100
There's no comparison to what Sec. Clinton is reported to have done with drones.
Octafish
Jun 2016
#193
How are we supposed to talk about it, other than to condemn the illegal drone strikes
Hydra
Jun 2016
#219
My momma use to always say "Turn tragedy into political opportunism before the bodies are identified
qdouble
Jun 2016
#17
do these two things really need to be compared - one being "worse" than the other?
DrDan
Jun 2016
#22
Three days. 72 hours. 0.42 Weeks. 0.09863 Months. 4320 Minutes. 259200 Seconds. *
NurseJackie
Jun 2016
#44
The poster has a history of linking to homophobic conspiracy theorist writers...
SidDithers
Jun 2016
#92
Yeah, I don't knwo why Bernie voted for Afghanistan...bad decision Bernie. nt
Demsrule86
Jun 2016
#34
Yeah, because a few words on a computer screen may remind people not to kill one another in war.
Octafish
Jun 2016
#51
+ a million. A trifecta of being tasteless, tone deaf and absolutely disgusting
Number23
Jun 2016
#130
I didn't order an illegal, immoral, unnecessary and disastrous invasion of Iraq.
Octafish
Jun 2016
#97
Yeah. I'm trying to stop wars for profit and Dr Hobbitstein is pointing out my hypocrisy.
Octafish
Jun 2016
#64
nope, that isn't what he is saying. He is saying you are using the tragedy in Florida in a not so
still_one
Jun 2016
#101
Congratulations on yet another mindless comparison based on absolutely ...
MrMickeysMom
Jun 2016
#114
''Politics'' being how the wars just keep going and going, no matter who we elect.
Octafish
Jun 2016
#196
War is mass murder, I've taken a verbal beating for saying that here over the years.
Rex
Jun 2016
#108
How DARE you!!! I had friends wounded last night, and friends who lost loved ones
ashtonelijah
Jun 2016
#137
SHAME ON YOU--YOU USE THIS HORRIBLE EVENT TO DISS THE PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC
riversedge
Jun 2016
#145
Not as wildly misleading as your post defending Bush, a warmonger like his father and grandfather.
Octafish
Jun 2016
#225
Who's lying, anigbrowl? You wrote Bush really meant something other than making money off war...
Octafish
Jun 2016
#227
Are you under the impression that Sanders is a pacifist who will pull back all US troops?
brooklynite
Jun 2016
#221