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I know, I'm reading through this stuff now, shaking my head. I think I'm going to start drinking early today ...
Seriously: All this clarifies a couple things. Barstow's piece includes some excellent quotes from MAs who knew, if belatedly, that they were being had. They went along because they didn't want to go up against the attack machine, or for whatever reason (they failed, in other words, to live up to the standards they were taught and the ones the unwitting public believed them to be exhibiting), but at least went on the record later about it (probably after being confronted with emails and memos and a timeline by Barstow), as any good reporter would count on. Hersh taps exactly this kind of discomfort all the time.
But there are also people who actually believe all this stuff, have insane ideas they want to turn into realities, and/or have deep contempt for the citizens they allegedly serve (see Allard's op-ed). Barstow was very generous (though I think he took the correct line) in dealing with them. None of this group were duped or deceived by the Pentagon: they sold out their principles willingly, ideologically. They've obviously been quite at home the last few years, even in the face of Rumsfeld's bullying, and the creeping threat to the integrity (and prerogatives) of the institution where they spent their professional lives.
Which takes me back to my original comment on your first post. I'm furious, and take this personally. There's no small number of other ex-military people who will feel the same, and who are likely allies in whatever we want to do about this. I've been out almost twenty years, and have other interests, accomplishments and commitments ... someone more recently closer to the kill-zone is bound to be even angrier than I am.
