Tom Cotton picked apart by Army general over ‘mutinous’ Iran letter

WASHINGTON POST ^ | 13 MARCH 2015 | JONATHAN CAPEHART

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The open letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran signed by 47 senators and instigated by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) was a stunning breach of protocol. One so outrageous that my former colleagues at the New York Daily News dubbed the signers “traitors.” While it is indeed a slap in the face of President Obama and an affront to the presidency, I’m not sure I would go that far, especially since Cotton is an Army veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. So, I turned to retired Major Gen. Paul D. Eaton for perspective. He wouldn’t say Cotton and Co. were “traitors,” either. He had a better word.

“I would use the word mutinous,” said Eaton, whose long career includes training Iraqi forces from 2003 to 2004. He is now a senior adviser to VoteVets.org. “I do not believe these senators were trying to sell out America. I do believe they defied the chain of command in what could be construed as an illegal act.” Eaton certainly had stern words for Cotton.

[odawg]

“Mutiny - revolt or rebellion against constituted authority”

The general doesn’t understand the chain of command. Obama is not Senator Cotton’s commanding officer; Cotton belongs to another organization which is co-equal to Obama.

[right way right]

Maybe the General is going to run in 2016.
Totalitarianism is a resume enhancement for the left.

[MaxMax]

Hey, Major Gen. Paul D. Eaton. Here's your new job.

After that you can wipe his ass for him.

Americans love and respect our Soldiers, but not your breed.

[SoFloFreeper]

Paul Eaton can cram it. He can support Obama. I’ll support America.

[tumblindice]

Eaton seems to think we have a king and parliament.

[RobbyS]

All this chain of command crap. This is a matter far above his pay grade.

[piasa]

Paul Eaton is one of the whiney sniveling generals from a few year’s back:

“...Joining the criticism earlier this week was retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who served as an infantry division commander in Iraq until last November. He called for a “fresh start at the Pentagon,” accusing Rumsfeld of ignoring sound military decision-making and seeking to intimidate those in uniform.

Earlier calls for Rumsfeld’s replacement came from retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, retired Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold and retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton.

The most nettlesome member of Bush’s Cabinet, Rumsfeld has been a lightning rod since the war began in March 2003... “

[rollo tomasi]

F* Generals and their pseudo kings.

[Dagnabitt]

Someone give the general a copy of the Constitution. Let him point out where it places the Senate in the “Chain of Command” under the President.

[matginzac]

Thanks for the info....
This is why I read FR...

[Gene Eric]

>> they defied the chain of command

Uhh... they’re not in the chain of command. And so has demonstrated every Dem Congress Critter that went overseas to defy Reagan and Bush.

[Jabba the Nutt]

The US Sentate is not in the President’s chain of command, but is a co-equal branch of government. These leftists just double and triple down on stupid. And hope the media will carry their water.

[Pelham]

http://www.redstate.com/2015/03/13/retired-major-general-paul-eaton-hack-hypocrite-odious-dipstick/

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004, appeared last night on HBO’s Bill Maher Show.

“We are in the midst of recovering right now from a constitutional crisis where you had the executive trump the other branches of government,” Eaton said. “Thank god” Congress changed hands in November, he said, giving us “a chance to unsort and figure out how to get out from under this.”

Eaton lamented that so many service members believe that conservatives “are good for the military.” “That is rarely the case. And we have got to get a message through to every soldier, every family member, every friend of soldier,” that the Bush administration and its allies in Congress have “absolutely been the worst thing that’s happened to the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps.”

[DPMD]

Eaton may be the Leftist flavor du jour, but he should take note of what became of his predecessor, Wesley Clark.

[bayouranger]

“Spit”

[JoeFromSidney]

Sorry, General, but since the Senate is a co-equal branch of the government to the Presidency, the Senators have every right to make their opinions known. Furthermore, they are absolutely correct to point out that unless the agreement is ratified by the Senate, the United States is not bound by it. The next President can ignore it. So there!

[jospehm20]

These is something not right about Eaton. This guy went into a combat zone as a two star general and never got promoted again. The only time I have seen that happen before was when the 1st AD guy was doing his driver. I wonder what Eaton screwed up to accomplish that and if he went democrat to get back at the people he thinks screwed him?

[TADSLOS]

Look at his bio. He was sidelined to TRADOC assignments after a stint as the ADC of 1AD. He was effectively removed from the mainstream key assignment as a Divisional Commander to be promoted to 3 star. Every assignment for the rest of his career was training centric, not operational- even his assignment in Iraq was as a trainer.

Nothing wrong with good trainers, but the Army is biased to promoting the most deserving and officers with the highest potential to key operational assignments to command in combat. Maybe he got sideways with the wrong people at DA/DOD or maybe he just hit the Peter Principle ceiling. One thing is certain, the guy is obviously a liberal with a huge chip on his shoulder and displays a stunning lack of understanding of Constitutional powers that he swore an oath to support and defend.

[DPMD]

Interesting, and couple that with the notion that failure for democrats is a career enhancer, and the dots begin to appear.