So let me get this straight:
“The newly confirmed Chief of the U.S. Central Command, General Lloyd J. Austin III, then Deputy Chief of Staff for the Army” is the point man for this issue. He did, after all, sign the final official letter on this issue. But then, doesn’t Central Command run all of the Combat Operations in the Islamic terrorist areas of operations?
So we have an Army General Officer ordering/approving Americans to go out and kill/injure Islamic terrorists and to run the risks of being killed/injured by Islamic terrorists on a daily basis while punishing a LtCol who was trying to teach an academic course on what drives Islamic terrorists?
That course, IMHO, could/would/did provide future combat leadership insights as to what motivates Islamic Terrorists.
I would be much more impressed with the Army’s position on this issue if we were no longer involved in daily combat operations against Islamic terrorists.
Me? I received and acknowledged lawful orders from within the DOD to be part of America’s first response to Islamic Terrorism as fermented by the Palestine Liberation Organization and allied groups. The date of those orders was 1 July 1978. And that was long before any of the principle players in this farce were commissioned officers!