Honorable Men

In order to advance his agenda overseas, Obama has had to choose an honorable man. Petraeus is faced with a moral dilemma. Should he support his Commander-in-Chief in a fool’s errand, or resign his commission? He chose to attempt the impossible. In doing so, he has sown the seeds of his own demise. He bears the praise of those who once cursed him and who will curse him again. He has chosen to fall on his sword in the name of honor (as defined by the military code of conduct).

This is not to say that what McChrystal did was not honorable. In his own way, he succeeded in drawing attention to a losing cause. Neither man considered the dearth of honor in Washington. Neither man considered the possibility of Barack Hussein Obama heading up a rogue government on the home front. Neither man gave consideration to what Obama’s true motive may be: the humiliation and ultimate destruction of the American military.

Petraeus will never think outside the box of total allegiance to the military which continues to give him meaning and purpose at the height of his career. He will defer to his civilian commander even if the latter chooses to use the military as a pocket knife for the stated purpose of bringing down a building. The building may in fact still stand, even after the knife has been irreparably ruined.

Father Henri Kremer in Volker Schloendorff’s film “The Ninth Day” faced a similar dilemma. Rather than submitting to the Nazi demand that he bring his religion in line with current realities, he chose to remain true to his church and, above all, to his conscience. Kremer survived.