Description:
<jats:p> Damon Coletta's “Courage in the Service of Virtue” accuses General Eric K. Shinseki of publicly challenging administration policy in a way that “improvised in areas such as war-fighting and diplomacy beyond his official purview,” contradicted the combatant commander, aided the French, abetted the Democrats, emboldened Saddam, and damaged American civil–military relations because it dismissed the policy makers' “right to be wrong.” Shinseki did none of these things, including publicly challenging administration policy. This article will provide some historical corrective and context for this debate. It will examine Shinseki's options and argue that, rather than damaging civilian control, Shinseki protected it through acts of commission and omission, through forthrightness and restraint toward both sets of his civilian masters enumerated in the Constitution to control the military, the executive and legislative branches of government. </jats:p>