The article titled “No Avoiding Moral Responsibility in War: Is There Ever a Time to Resign?” in Army magazine by a retired three-star general is not what it might appear to be. According to LRC reader GP,

I was initially intrigued by the title, and thought that perhaps some common sense had seeped into the senior military leadership. After having read it though, I realized I was sadly mistaken. The author is so blinded by his strictly American point of view that he appears incapable of even grasping the larger moral considerations that he is ostensibly addressing. For instance, he provides the example of a former Army Chief of Staff, General Harold K. Johnson, who wrestled with the immorality of sending conscripted young Americans to die in Vietnam while following a strategy that he recognized as ultimately incapable of “winning” the war. Yet no mention is made of the immorality of engaging in an obvious war of aggression and virtually wiping out an entire generation of Vietnamese. As I finished the article I read that the author had served as a general officer during the Iraq invasion/occupation. Rather ironic that a man who oversaw the most massive violation of human rights since Vietnam should find it permissible to offer his advice on the morality of war.

The Best of Laurence M. Vance