Armed With History
And Skelton has little patience for those who delve into military matters without that historical perspective, adds Richard Kohn, former chief of history for the Air Force, who has testified before the committee. Now a professor of history at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, he recalls Rumsfeld's comments last year that the rise of Nazism resulted from "cynicism and moral confusion" in the West. When Rumsfeld then added a salvo aimed at critics of the Iraq war-that "it is apparent that many have still not learned history's lesson"-Skelton phoned Kohn: "He asked me for details about the general that George Marshall charged with crafting the occupation policies for American forces." He then took Rumsfeld to task for missing what he considered to be among World War II's most vital lessons. "The lesson he should have chosen to draw," he said, "is the lesson of the successful Allied occupation of Germany."
History buff. Skelton calls the choice of Lt. Gen. David Petraeus to lead U.S. troops in Iraq "excellent-just excellent." During the dedication of the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Mo., the two spent a good part of the morning touring the museum and discussing battles. Last year, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., named a chair for counterinsurgency after Skelton, an effort spearheaded by Petraeus, an expert in counterinsurgency himself. Skelton is "a true student and lover of history," Petraeus tells U.S. News. "He has had far and away the most significant impact on our professional military education institutions and programs."
Skelton's Capitol Hill office, too, is a small museum. Among the more prominent mementos on display is a telegram his father sent to Harry Truman, a note of support just after the president made the difficult decision to fire Gen. Douglas MacArthur. "Those making political capital out of this incident will get nowhere," wrote the elder Skelton, who was a Missouri prosecutor at a time when Truman was a local judge in a neighboring county. Today, Skelton says military leadership does not bear chief responsibility for a botched war. The troops, he says, "are better than their mission."
Skelton has made five trips to Iraq. In 2005, he spent several days in a military hospital after his armored bus was sideswiped and flipped over. Just back from a visit to Baghdad led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Skelton returned discouraged: "The question is, have we run out of time?" Skelton notes that Congress has the power of the purse strings, but he will not support withholding funds for the war. "You can always limit funds, but at the end of the day it would harm the troops." Though in six months, he warns, circumstances could change.
Skelton adds that he remains concerned about the ratcheting up of tensions in the Middle East. He draws on another historical analogy, noting how the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand led to World War I and trench warfare in Europe. In the wake of saber rattling with Iran, he says, "you don't know what events will cause other events to happen." But you can glean clues, he adds.
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