You may rightly ask how and why I would link this week’s perjury trial of “Scooter” Libby with helicopter pilots downed in Iraq.
The connection is that one topic deals with an official advancing a war where Americans could die or suffer dismemberment while the other chronicles the tragic loss of life of citizens serving in that war.
Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that this week’s article is a screed against American involvement in Iraq, allow me to disabuse you of that notion.
Still more time -- perhaps much, much more time -- is required before anyone, including yours truly, can dispassionately, fairly, and critically analyze the War in Iraq without portraying it primarily through political lenses. Besides, “The Forum” is not intended to be a political venue. Its purpose is to study, discuss, and assess the best way for the Executive Branch and its employees (and contractors) to serve the common good.
[If political and social discourse is important, I invite you to my web site where I have for years written on such topics.]
Back to Libby and Iraq. All the players are Executive Branch employees. All are charged with upholding our Constitution. All ought to be striving to perform their duties to the best of their abilities.
This week provides a rare insight into how all the pieces fit together from the highest policy level down to where the proverbial rubber hits the road. Unfortunately, the Libby-Helicopter issue is a matter of life and death. It does not simply revolve around Executive A who won’t respond to Executive B’s meeting request while Executive C remains unwilling to cooperate and kick in a few FTEs for an exciting new cost-saving initiative.
Often the latter circumstances are what government workers face daily and they must overcome those obstacles and their frustrations to achieve a desired end. That’s not very easy. But it pales in comparison to scenarios that could result in fellow Executive Branch colleagues paying the ultimate price: losing their lives.
Perhaps this strange juxtaposition and my article this week are morbid, at best, and not helpful. My goal, however, is not to shock. It is to spur some degree of thought, debate, and introspection. But not about the War, per se. Political leaders in the House and Senate are directing that effort now and they certainly don’t need any assistance from me.
My desire is that we think about the vital role that Executive Branch employees play in noble efforts to devise and deliver key government goods and services. Whether or not you support the War, this is an example of our government at work, delivering our country’s foreign policy in the most tangible and dangerous manner imaginable. For that, our citizens in the State Department, Defense Department, and Intelligence Community are working as diligently as possible to minimize American casualties and ensure success, however defined.
Folks at the Internal Revenue Service are operating a huge tax administration system that’s funding the war effort as well as the entire complement of government operations and services. Homeland Security at all government levels is striving to protect us from further attacks. And so it goes. Almost every aspect of our lives is touched by the hands of federal, state, or local government managers, employees, and contractors.
I wonder if any people will consider that aspect of the Libby case as it moves towards its conclusion.
Perhaps so, if they think about the helicopter pilots.
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Fred W. Apelquist, III, M.Ed.
Approximately 575 words.
© February, 2007