Who will replace Gen. William E. Odom? (Congress, Iraq, interviews)

[TnHilltopper]

General William E. Odom will be laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery on September the 8th, after dying of a heart attack in May. A quick note for those unfamiliar with who Gen William Odom was, here is the short list.

William Odom was born in Cookeville, TN in 1932, and was neither a Republican nor a Democrat. He attended and taught at West Point military academy. He was both a military man who rose to the rank of three star general as well as a scholar. He worked under Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter's National Security Adviser, and also He worked as assistant chief of staff of the Army for Intelligence and director of the National Security Agency under President Reagan, spent 31 years in military intelligence specializing in Russia.

His ancestor Col. George Waller had served with George Washington at Yorktown; two of his great-grandfathers fought for the Confederacy. His only son, Mark, led dangerous field operations in Iraq before being injured last year in an insurgent bombing. Odom was also a serious scholar, with a Columbia Ph.D. in political science, a long list of academic books and journal articles, and an adjunct professorship at Yale.

Obviously a man with a distinguished career and service to his country, not to mention a scholar and thinker.

While I have always been outspoken on the war in Iraq and tend to believe that we are too quick to act militarily these days, I do however tend to listen to the words of military scholars over the pimple faced, 30 something think tank types over at the AEI, PNAC, JINSA, Heritage foundation types.

William Odom after all his years of experience and study came to be one of the most outspoken people on Iraq. He and others even giving testimony before Congress but sadly, he and others like him were all but ignored. It wasn't until recently when others began to look closely at what this man was telling them did they realize how true most of his predictions if you will had come to pass.

Who will replace this mans voice of caution and the words he wrote. Who else has the courage to speak truth to power in our might makes right age?

For those who have an attention span that is greater than just a few blurbs of text and care to read a fantastic piece on William Odom in the American Conservative Magazine, then by all means.

The American Conservative -- General Principles

[ExPit]

Thanks for that. He was a man of integrity, a dying trait. Who will replace him? No one is my guess, because even though there are those who would speak truth to power (another one of those 15 minutes of fame expressions), why they would not be just as summarily dismissed as he was I can't fathom.

We know the story. If you're in you're in and shut the hell up, right? You are getting paid, the checks are clearing, it is sufficient to finance your flat in Manhattan, your lavish spread in the D.C. suburbs, and even that beachfront get away down in Boca. And those that aren't in, are outside the loop, are marginalized as disgruntled uniformed rebel rousers, how do we win, when the MSM seems to be on board as well? So why should it baffle me when Americans are so likely to turn a blind eye or go D&D? The Mainstream Media, is in, their checks are clearing, so they have shut the hell up.

[TnHilltopper]

The only person right off hand I can think of that has extensive military experience and also happens to be a scholar and philosopher is Andrew Bacevich.

You can read a little about the guy over at the Journal with Bill Moyers.

Bill Moyers Journal . Bill Moyers interviews Andrew J. Bacevich | PBS

His over view and broad based look at the geopolitical landscape as well as our role in it is pretty amazing in my opinion. Very much worthy reading, and if they still have the video up, worth watching.