A MILITARY VERDICT - AT 8:39 A.M. ET:  This story should be troubling to anyone concerned about national security, the morale of our military, and the future of the country.  The New York Times reports this morning on a growing anger toward President Obama within our military ranks.  The implications are not good:

WASHINGTON — Only nine months ago, the Pentagon pronounced itself reassured by the early steps of a new commander in chief. President Obama was moving slowly on an American withdrawal from Iraq, had retained former President George W. Bush’s defense secretary and, in a gesture much noticed, had executed his first military salute with crisp precision.

But now, after nearly a month of deliberations by Mr. Obama over whether to send more American troops to Afghanistan, frustrations and anxiety are on the rise within the military.

A number of active duty and retired senior officers say there is concern that the president is moving too slowly, is revisiting a war strategy he announced in March and is unduly influenced by political advisers in the Situation Room.

This is chilling:

“The thunderstorm is there and it’s kind of brewing and it’s unstable and the lightning hasn’t struck, and hopefully it won’t,” said Nathaniel C. Fick, a former Marine Corps infantry officer who briefed Mr. Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and is now the chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, a military research institution in Washington. “I think it can probably be contained and avoided, but people are aware of the volatile brew.”

COMMENT:  We have civilian control of the military.  No one wants it any other way.  But the commander-in-chief must be conscious of the morale of the men and women he commands.  If a commander loses the respect of his soldiers, he is all but washed up. 

Obama is losing that respect.  True, there are some officers, as the story reports, who understand his method and praise it, but there is a lack of leadership style in this White House, something that has to frustrate men in the field.  Combine that with Obama's endless apologizing for the United States, and you have a very bad mix.

There has been speculation that some top commanders may resign if the president pursues a strategy they believe can't work.  That may not change the strategy, but it can surely dent the armor of "The One."

October 20, 2009