Debasing the Medal of Freedom
 

Debasing the Medal of Freedom (David Shuster)

I don't have a problem with Paul Bremer (former US administrator in Iraq), George Tenet (former CIA director), or General Tommy Franks (led the invasion of Iraq.) And I'm convinced that all three did their jobs as best they could under exceptionally trying circumstances.

However, I couldn't help but get sick to my stomach today as I watched President Bush award Bremer, Tenet, and Franks the Presidential medal of freedom. Maybe it was because I spent most of yesterday at Walter Reed Army hospital, interviewing United States soldiers who are learning how to use prosthetic legs and arms because their own got blown off in Iraq. (More on these courageous young men/women tomorrow on Hardblogger and Thursday night on Hardball.) Or maybe I just couldn't get over the apparent contradictions between the record of today's medal of freedom recipients and the qualifications listed on the web site. According to the medal of freedom web site, "this great honor is reserved for individuals the President deems to have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." The award is "given only after careful thought, always sparingly so as not to debase its currency."

"Debase its currency." Hmmm. The 9-11 commission blames the CIA and Tenet for some of the crucial intelligence failures that prevented us from stopping the terrorist attacks. On Iraq, before the invasion, it was Tenet who described the existence of WMD as a "slam dunk." Paul Bremer guided the postwar Iraq effort into chaos and insurgency. And General Tommy Franks, while leading US troops brilliantly to Baghdad, had no plan once US troops got there to secure any part of the nation and prevent looting or sabotage.

Once upon a time, the Presidential medal of freedom was awarded to spies who quietly risked their life for our nation. And in previous years, the medal of freedom has been given President Gerald Ford, President Jimmy Carter, Thurgood Marshall, Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, civil rights leader Rosa Parks, educator Albert Shanker, former Senator and GOP Presidential candidate Bob Dole, philanthropist David Rockefeller, and etc. and etc.

My point is that it is a shame to see a meaningful award turned into the latest political photo-op. I'm glad to hear that George Tenet, Paul Bremer, and Tommy Franks are doing so well in private life. But if the Bush administration wants to review the record of these three, let's have an honest discussion instead of the historical revisionism and political theater that was on center stage today.

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